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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Non-compliance of telephone lines

Posted By: Carol on 2006-01-31
In Reply to:

Has anyone had any difficulty with the new SBC/AT&T?  I have been told I do not have many options other than a per minute plan.  I have seen a program called CallVantage.  Does anyone have any information on this plan?


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bellsouth - 2 telephone lines = $140/month
.
HIPAA Compliance ?
Does anyone have any knowledge about a US MT typing from home and any HIPAA compliance violations if this MT also types from a 2nd residence in a different state for part of the year?
HIPAA compliance
I am thinking about trying to get my own accounts and am trying to plan for all types of scenarios.  For various reasons, I am not able to pick up and drop off tapes.  Obviously, digital would be the best way to go.  However, if a doctor absolutely wanted to use tapes, would it be a HIPAA violation to ship the tapes certified (requiring signature) via USPS or UPS?  What about the completed reports?  I had two physicians in the past who refused to go digital and I ended up having to stop working for them because it was becoming increasingly difficult to pick up and drop off tapes.  What are your thoughts?  TIA.
Telephone Number ...sm
The number you gave below for Detective Joe Rodriquez is not working...sounds like a fax line...please advise? TIA
Telephone ringing
nm
I had a telephone conversation come through once -
It may have been a walkie - I am pretty sure I saw the guy drive down the street in front of me talking on something - it was very brief, I think probably when he was in very direct range.  It was wierd!
Telephone solicitors from out of US?

This person who just called had an extremely thick accent and could not understand me, I had to repeat everything at least twice.  This person gave the name of "John Green". I asked if they were calling from the United States and he said "yes".  The phone number showed an area code in New York, does this assure he is calling from there or can they call from heaven-knows-where through another company's number? 


Telephone Solicitors from below

Found a way to stop Dell from calling us hourly for awhile anyway.


We have it set up to be able to view our account online with Dell. 


I hate Dell.  They have the worst customer service. They start calling 3-4 days BEFORE the payment is due and continue to call us every hour on the hour wanting us to pay check by phone.  NOT on your LIFE!


Last night, we went online and changed our telephone information on our account.  Instead of our phone number, they now have THEIR phone number.  Let them call themselves.  Wonder how long it will take them to figure that one out.


Telephone dictation for your clients

Anyone interested in offering toll free dial in dictation to their clients? I found a small company that is offering this service for $45/mo. It seems very reliable and they deliver my dictation files via FTP as a .wav file.


If interested reply back and I'll send you their contact info.


I live in SC and have Verizon for telephone
and internet.  We could get Time Warner Cable also but chose Verizon instead.  We have a home phone which is Verizon also.  We do not have a long distance carrier such as AT&T since we use cell phones for long distance.
Telephone Record Adaptor
You might want to look into getting a telephone record adaptor that plugs into your laptop sound card.  Also would require audio capture software but then the files would be recorded onto your computer and from there you could transcribe them.
It looks similar to a telephone. You use it to dial

directly into the hospital system (usually, can also dial into MTSO system).  You have a foot pedal that controls the dictation.  You complete a report, sign it off and then get another one.  Unless you have an 800 # to dial into, you will need unlimited long distance and most companies that say they offer ULD have a 5000 minute limit, which may not cover you. 


You can Google C-phone and find a picture and get more info. 


Broadband/Internet Telephone Service
Does anyone use a broadband/internet telephone service for transcription, such as Vonage, Covad, Lingo, SpeakEasy? I have a local long distance account and am looking into this type of service for a monthly flat fee for unlimited minute usage. Otherwise, the long distance fees would eat me alive. Any info on any company, good or bad, would help me tremendously in making my decision. I am researching several via the internet, but once again, any info would help.

Have a save and sane 4th of July!
Lillian
downloading dictation versus telephone
ive been transcribing 220-250 lines per hour using the following:  I dial into the telephone system using a Dictaphone to access the dictations and use Persona Client and Telnet software. It is all just straight typing, the dictation is waiting for me as I don't have to download nething.  I get paid by minutes dictated.  For example, if I transcribe 1 hour of dictation it would equal 600 lines.  600 lines at 8 cpl = 48.00.  I'm lookin elsewhere for employment, and I'm worried about the downloading of dictations (which seems most are doing now-a-days) slowing my daily production down.  Does anyone seem to be more/less productive as far as using a telephone to access dictations as opposed to downloading.  Also, is there a big difference between getting paid per 65 character line or by minutes dictated.  TY
magicjack with Lanier or telephone line - sm
The magicjack did not work with my Lanier, and my friend has dial-up and it would not work for her WITHOUT transcribing equipment, just regular calls. I sent mine back the same day.
Need Company that Turns Telephone Dictation into WAV/DSS Files

 


Hello,


Can anyone recommend a good company that will take my client's telephone dictation and convert them into WAV or DSS files that I can then access and transcribe?. A company that has good pricing and is reliable.  I probably won't have a huge volume to start.  Thank you.


Dave


Hi, just lately I spoke with a couple of companies who said they re-imbursed for telephone charges..
or supplied "calling cards" for specific accounts -- myself, I am glad to be away from C-phones, I did not have a great fondness for them! Have a good one!
deduct telephone, electric and portion of house payments.
Hope this helps!
Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines.  One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself.  After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
That is a lot of work/lines for 2 people. I do 3000 lines per day sm
if you times that by 30 days that only comes to 90K lines a month, that is working 7 days a week including weekends. I don't think 2 people can handle that.
900 lines is below 1100 lines, where the bonus starts.
x
Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
The norm is 1 minute = 10 lines; 10 min = 100 lines - sm
granted this varies per dictator. More lines if a fast talker, less if a slow talker.
I went from 2400 lines to 1800 lines

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!


Which is the one where they are sc*&ing us the standard lines or the qualified lines? SM
Mine show up as STD when I pull up my transcription log.  But I see now there is STD/QT....  So which is the one where they are ripping us off, standard or qualified?  Need to know.  I am about to switch companies and I will not do if they are actually taking lines from me.  Thanks guys. 
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....

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.


My telephone service is VOIP, but it s through my cable service, along with my cable internet. .
We have had VOIP for about a year now and I love it. I really can't tell a difference in traditional service, except the price. One of the best calls of my life was to Bellsouth to cancel our service!
Word count: 824 lines. DocuCount count: 897 lines.
I just counted the same file in Word and then in DocuCount, and DocuCount was higher than Word.

Just as an aside.
lines
I always say a good average is around 250-300 lines an hour.
Lines

I have been flamed many times about my production, rate and how much I make.  I think it is great for you.   But there are those 10 hour days sometimes but I like the fact that I have my own business, and get paid for the hard work.  One account that I have is surgeons and with their consults have hit close to 600 lines per hour but with my IM's, and their chart notes can only get up to 350 to 400 or so.   It is hard when I switch to my clinic account where I sometimes go in and get paid hourly as I feel like I am not working fast enough on their electronic charts.  Again, I have said it many times, it may take a while but if you want to work hard the money is there to be made in this field.


 


 


How many lines??
Everyone just wondering how many lines did you do a day when you first started MT? And, how many hours a day?
SS lines, pay,
They are a total rip off. E-mails are plain rude. Cherrypickers like one could not believe. Management does not exist. QA a total joke. Roaming payday. Anyone else who states other is not an MT with the company.
lines...whatever it was.

Well you see, you stated right in your post that you can't possibly cherry pick...so what do you know about what is going on with the rest of us out here who DO have to deal with cherry pickers. 


Ma'am, I have 25 years in this business, 15 of it in a nest of the worst cherrypickers you have ever seen, at the largest hospital in my state. I was the supervisor for 5 years and I would have fired somebody on the spot if they'd done that, but they all knew it. Had no problems.


Don't know what you make per line but getting about 666 lines per hour is quite astounding.  I'm sure you must be quite happy where you are and with no cherry pickers! 


I work for 3 hospitals, doing operative notes. They are assigned to me by someone 6 states away. I go down the list. There's no way to get anything other than what I get. And yes, I am completely happy where I am.


Good for you.  I've been an acute care MT for over 30 years and am rated as one of the best as far as QA and quantity and have NEVER, EVER in my life been able to come close to your line count.  Maybe you are from another planet and have powers beyond us or maybe you have some special secret you could share.  Or maybe, we should just ignore your statement of getting that kind of line count, especially when you are not dealing with cherry pickers.  


I don't deal with cherrypickers because I won't work where there are any. I get that kind of line count every single day, because that is what is assigned to me and I have to do it and turn it in on a deadline.


It is all in where you work and what you are able to put up with. I happen to have the freedom to work where I please and working there pleases me.


It's unfortunate that you have 30 years' experience and you are stuck where you are.


lines
Well it took me a little longer 5 typing and 1.0 delivering but I did 2295 at 0.12 cents a line. So guess I will quit until later this evening. Two surgeons and two IM' and 1 plastic surgeon. Lots of consults, auto corrects but pays off. 13 consults at 3 to 4 pages each.
LINES

I have gotten 500 lines but I should not count as I do clinical notes for two surgeons that do the same consults for most breast CA, hernias, cysts, etc.  I just whipped out between the two almost 700 lines in about 75 minutes but I have been doing them for so long  and have so much saved that I type perhaps on a general inguinal hernia consult and letter, 30% of the actual consult.  Sometimes more.  On regular chart notes, I average around 300 to 350 but again have had the same docs for 5 and 7 years.    And when you read closely, you will see that is how we do it. But if you are with a national and new docs all the time, I would be luck to get 200 lines an hour. So it is sometimes like comparing oranges to apples as they say.


 


 


lines
Working 2-1/2 hours, all ops, mainly ESL, 308 lines which comes out to about $10 an hour. Am I crazy or what?
lines/pay
I've been transcribing 25 years, only 4 months being production paid with a large national, no incentives, no bonuses, no extras for working holidays. I find it terribly depressing when the check comes and you see your gross lines, divide the number of hours you worked--it has been improving each pay, but still not near what I was making previously.  I now have been offered a position (not transcription) at a local hospital (where I lost my transcribing job to outsourcing) at $16/hr. An easy job that I'm seriously considering.  No holidays, no logging on all hours to find work, great benefits.  But I've been working at home 5 years now..... I never realized how the big companies are underpaying good transcriptionists.  Thank heavens I have extra accounts that I've been doing on the side for years or I couldn't survive on what I'm bringing in now.   Thanks for listening!
lines/pay
If that is true, many not making $10/hr., then yes, I guess I should consider myself lucky. I had no idea others were being paid such a minimal amount - and I never considered that I was "in the dark" about things!
lines
My max after 4 months with the national came out to $13.42/hr.  I have extra accounts that I've been doing for years and make $25-$30 an hour on those - letters by specialists which I breeze though, 15-20 extra hours a week, so when I went to the national, pay by the line, what a shocker. Never been paid by the line, even though I was told not to worry with my experience, etc., I would have no trouble with getting good line counts, doesn't seem to be happening. At least it doesn't seem good to me and at this point the in-house hospital job (not transcription) seems more inviting at $16/hr Mon-Fri, no weekends, no holidays, great bennies...Even though my love is transcription my feeling is I'll still have my fingers in it with the extra accounts I have but will feel more stable.  Single parent, need the bennies. 
lines
Glad to know it is not just me.  New to this at home thing - only 4 months with 25 years experience. I struggle to get 1200 lines a day unless I get lucky and get an ER account - which doesn't happen very often. 
$13/hr plus .04 over 150 lines/hr
Just went back to the local hospital I used to work for. I usually can easily type 300 lines per hour, so the hourly rate plus incentive is fairly decent.
Lines
I checked this when I first went on DQS.  Do a select all on a completed document in DQS, paste it into MS Word, then go to tools, choose word count, look at the characters with spaces total and divide that number by 65. You will find that it matches with DQS.
lines
It takes me about 8 hours to do 2000 lines
lines
one day
lines
How? I could only dream of doing that. I started workign as an MT in July, I currently am getting only about 500-700 lines a day. I made $20 my first day. I also have a 2 year old that constantly needs my attention. How did you get so good? Any tips would really be appreciated.
500 to 700 lines isn't bad at all

if you just started in July. 


I do right around 1500 a day (more or less) and I've been at it nearly 20 years.


Take the time to add in expansion settings, templates, etc.  I did 650 lines today for one doctor I do and he does almost the same exact progress report for each patient.  The template runs right around 10 lines and I did 30 patients so there were 300 "free" lines (that I didn't have to actually type) right there.  Add the expansion settings of only having to type "pmh" for "past medical history is significant for multiple medical issues, including," etc, etc., I can do 600 lines for him in 2 hours.


However, if I get a new guy, I'm luck if I can do 300 lines in 2 hours.


So it sounds as if you're not doing to badly if you can get 500 to 700 lines done especially with a 2-year-old!  If I have my 18 month old twin granddaughters here I get ZERO lines in a day!


lines/hr
Thank you for responding. I really appreciate it.
Lines/hr
routinely between 7.5 - 8 hours per day with a couple breaks per day.
lines/hr
Ooops! I thought you said PER DAY.  Sorry.  
lines
Like I said, easy to check just look at an old report in Microsoft word and see character count with and without spaces. That will tell you the difference.
Lines
My lines depend on what doctors I get, how they speak, if they are foreign where you have to listen over and over until you learn what they are saying. Some days I do not have to go to a book and other days I have to look up a lot of things, especially if it is the first time I heard it, just to make sure I am spelling it right and I have been doing this a long time. Hang in there.