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One of my employers told me to just add a 0, i.e. 30 minutes would roughly equal 300 lines. sm

Posted By: ltmt on 2006-11-04
In Reply to: How do minutes dictated equate to lines typed? - sm

Of course, if someone talks fast, you'd get more lines, and if you get one of those guys who stops and turns pages and/or talks slow, the lines would be less.  Seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb for me.


As for the length taken, when I started doing MT work 30-some years ago (back in the days of the vinyl belts and carbon paper -- eek!), the quota was that you should be able to 15 minutes of dictation in 1 hour.  However, I think anyone with experience would probably do it in much less time. 


Hope this helps.  




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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? 
How many lines, roughly, in 1 min of dictation?
Im curious as to what the average line count per minute of dictation is? Does anyone have this information? Again, Im just looking for an average, not a set in stone amount. Also, if you type hospital transcription, roughly how many jobs do you need to type in 8 hours to meet the average line count required by most companies of 1200 lines in 8 hours? 25? 50? 75? 100? Yes, I know this will vary to, but again, just looking for an average #.
I was told I needed 2 phone lines, but was told I was dialing into the doctors' system. What woul

Depends on the pay and account. My lowest average is $15.52 an hour (roughly 182.6 lines an hour) w
;'
What is the minimum lines per week required by employers for part-time for transcription?
nm
Thanks - I was told to spend 15 minutes on research (see msg)
and I'm paid by production by the minute (rather than the line).

I thought that was a bit much but wanted some other opinions. Looking through an entire chart seems a bit much to me, also.

I was told it's my responsibility to do research for basically however long it takes, with the 15-minute time limit given when I requested a definition of reasonable.

I appreciate you all taking the time to respond.
minutes vs. lines
In my experience, as I get paid per minute, depending on what you get paid per line, let's say anywhere 10-13 cents per line then by the line is the way to go especially if you have a lot of normal reports. I have a speedy radiologist and sometimes get paid nothing for a report because I barely get the name recorded and study recorded.
130 lines in 15 minutes?
Wow!  You are fast.  That would be 530 lines an hour!  I thought I was doing good at 250.  At that rate you can make a lot of money, but I think it would burn me out typing that much every day. 
Minutes vs. lines

Can anyone please tell me what 75 minutes of dictation should yield in lines (65 char).


TIA


minutes to lines
I recently started a new job and was told the formula is 100 minutes of dictation equals 1000 lines a day, approximately. Hope that helps.
probably about 100 minutes/1000 lines
15 years ago, I worked for a company that paid by the minute.  we got 87 cents for 1 minute.  I did 200 minutes a day and it was in the ballpark of 2000 lines.  it varies depending on your dictators but that's a good average.
OH! ER notes - that is where you can rack up minutes/lines!
Just fly 'em out the window, dude!!
Info on minutes converted to lines
Hi everyone.   I have a potential job offer and two of us are going to split the minutes.  Does anyone know what 100 minute's worth of dictation would equal in lines per day.   I know there is probably a formula for converting this, but I cannot find my information that I used to have.   Thanks
On average 1000 minutes equals how many lines?
nm
How do minutes dictated equate to lines typed?
In other words, if I commit to type 30 minutes of dictation, how many lines would that equate to (for 150 lines per hour for example)??  Or put another way - how long would an average Transcriptionist take to type 30 minutes of dictation (from an "average" dicatator)??
Wow, 600 lines from 30 minutes of clinic/chart notes - sm
The most I would squeeze out of that would be 350 probably. You must have one fast talking doctor. You are also very fast if you can do 600 lines in one hour, or else you have it macroed/expanded to death and there is very little actual typing so that is why you can do so much in such a small amount of time.
approximately how many minutes dict. equals 1000 lines?sm
When I worked in-house, I pure typed all day (8 hrs) 1/2hr lunch..2 10-min breaks and we were applauded for 70-100 minutes (we weren't paid by line but by hour). We didn't have Expanders and such..no normals..just typed. I don't know how many lines I produced, but 100 minutes dictation was a lot of work. Now it seems everybody looks at 1000 lpd as low normal.
I was told to have 2 phone lines, one can be cell. But (sm)
The one time I needed to use modem for backup, it was virtually impossible to type, so having the second line is useless. Having a second HSI connection would do the trick in the event some castrophe took place and the HSI co. went out for a day or so.


super told me to meet lines of 12000 or be dropped to SE
i thought there was only 2 types of employees; statutory or full time
One place told me that the Ctrl/I function gives you higher lines than going to the site does, so
s
10 hours, roughly
I can do 2,500 lines in 10 hours, or 250 an hour. That is with doctors I am familiar with, not looking up alot of things, no distractions, etc. It does depend alot on your situation. Even if you figure 12 hours to be safe, that is still only 2.5 hours a day that you are required to work to keep your job. I think that is great.
I do well, roughly $56,000 a year.
I make .12 cpl and work 5 days a week, plus a few hours on the weekend. I do roughly 220 to 250 lines per hour. I work doing the same 3 hospitals daily. It is possible!!
I make roughly that, a tad more, same hours. SM
I think it's wonderful money.
I used to say he nursed for 30 minutes every 30 minutes. I was trying to figure
out a way to strap him across my chest so he could help himself while I went about whatever it was I had to do.    I really miss those days too.  
this is equal to a very old formula
Back when documents were produced on typewriters, formulas were created to define the average length of a line. It was defined as 10 words with spaces, with the average word being 5 characters - thus 55 printed characters per line.

All the ad your reading is saying is that they will take all the visible characters you produce and divide it by 55 to decide your final production at the end of the day. It does not include bolding, underlining, hard returns, spaces, etc., as had been defined by the old AAMT.

The new AAMT/MTIA whatever it is called monster is redefining a line as only characters you see and this ad is embracing the new definition and defining 55 visible characters as a line. A 55 visible character line is approximately equal to a 65 line that includes spaces - but I bet they are not going to compensate for thespacesyouneedtoinsertintotthelinetomakeitreadable.


Is a Celeron M (1.5 GHz) processor equal to a
nm
How many bytes equal a line?
I need to find out how many bytes equals a line. Any advice would be helpful.
One character or key Stroke is equal
... to one byte (including spaces or anyother character, remember one KEY STROKE regardless of the input). If you ever want to calculate your bytes for certain amount of text -> paste it on NotePad and save it as text file. Later you can right click on the file to get it's properties to see it's exact size.
spaces equal 22% of the report. That is a lot! nm
x
Not all QA people are created equal
If you absolutely love it, you really must have an aptitude for the job. Many of the QA people were once MTs themselves and could not keep up the pace nor did they have the necessary aptitude it takes so they became QA. So you are dealing with this scenario. Think about it.
Slow speaker does not equal big $$
x
Not sure if they are equal in power, but the Celeron is inferior to the Pentium.

If you're getting a desktop may be no big deal since desktops are cheaper and you tend to replace then every 2 to 3 years, but if getting a laptop/notebook, definitely get the Pentium or the Centrino and not the Celeron. 


If you try caffeinated drinks, make sure to use Equal or Splenda.
nm
Not all 8 cents a line situations are created equal sm
I am coming off a job using Extext and going into one using ChartNet. I have used Smart Type for over a decade and for Chartnet I have to go to Instant Text. I am able to do over 200 lines an hour after about a week at the new job. I will get to 300 again in a month or so. I say again because I have not done that much in a long time.

Extext...I loved it when I first used it, but after 18 months I can't get above 170 lph and that is with echoes and normals with lots of free lines, and that includes dozens of normals and report shells I have made myself. It won't get better and that is poor pay at the 8.5 cpl base rate, but then again I always have bonuses of a couple of kinds and shift differentials...but I can't do better than 1200 lines a day with any consistency, not in 8 hours a day.

I work a job in MedRite. Like Extext, it is a Word client and rather similar. Top rate for MedRite is close to 300 lines an hour on a horrid account with 80% PLUS ESLs. It is just a faster platform.

Enter ChartNet...never used it. Had to switch to Instant Text...never used it. I have been working about 5 days on it and I can do 200 lph and only one doctor so far who throws me for a loop when I can't do that. She is not an ESL, but a slurring motor mouth who skips around and forgets what she is doing on the phone in the first place.

The Extext work has been 90% OP notes, my specialty. The others are all the basic 4, and I have to say that I went from clinic for many years to OP notes, skipping the rest in between. I have very little experience in DS, CN and H&P notes, VERY little time with those. I'd be faster with them if I had done more of them before.

Part of speed is the expander, part is the platform and part is you. It doesn't matter how great you are as a typist and how perfect your expander, if the platform isn't very good you can't make money at any line rate. If the platform is good, but you are not Expander savvy, you won't you make it either. You can, however, be like me and a poor typist with a great expander and a decent platform...and STILL make money. LOL

In MY experience, the largest problem with making more money is the expander GLOSSARY, not which program you choose. I have heard some of the craziest stories about how to use an expander while on this board...ridiculous, wonky, time wasting, counter intuitive toro pu pu!!!! If you are struggling with an expander FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME. I am happy to spend my time helping anyone who will genuinely give my methods a shot.
It's Maalox and Benadryl, equal parts, swish and swallow. nm
x
Two jobs don't equal one when it comes to making money and not wasting time. sm
Recommend looking for one good job.
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All things being equal, do you prefer to work with a C-phone or use WAV files over the internet? sm
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.  I have only ever used a c-phone but think I may bet getting ready to use WAV files and foot pedal for an account and am a little anxious!  TIA
Cook in equal parts BBQ and grape jelly. Crock pot if time. Yum! nm
 
Tax guy told me to hold 30%. After first year when got idea what I would be making, he told me
:P
employers
I was just looking at the available jobs, and I noticed  all of them require at least 2-5yrs experience. I also noticed that some of the employers can't even spell, yet experience is required. This seems kind of silly to me.
Just tell prospective employers you...sm
Stop behaving like factory workers on piece-work, demand a fair "hourly wage" for what you do. Find out what is paid in your area, 13.00 to 17.00 dollars is what I often hear as a range for MT pay. Decide what you want, be willing to give an honest days work for an honest days dollar" and then only work for an hourly rate. You will say, but no one pays that, and I will say that is only because no one demands it. We are not migrant workers being paid for how many bushels of apples we pick, why should our take-home pay depend on whether or not the doc is ESL, or is just having a bad day? I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to know how much I will earn to determine how much I can spend. When we start acting like professionals, I think we will be treated like one.
My 2 cents is that I wish all employers - sm
of MTs, whether MTSO or inhouse, would realize that their MTs are an ASSET, not just another 'unnecessary' expense that somehow needs to be eliminated. And then treat them as such! A very intelligent & highly respected MD I once transcribed for told me he couldn't understand the whole downward spiral of the MT profession, pay, etc., because we were the MD's 'first line of defense' against malpractice. He said his job was to practice medicine, and our job was to help him document it accurately.

The wages most places offer are an insult right up front. And then all the sleight-of-hand when it comes to cheating MTs with 'doctored' line counts, late paychecks, etc., adds injury to insult for the MT.

I think part of the problem lies in the fact that because most MTs are home-based nowadays, it's just too easy for them to become faceless, nameless, non-persons to the employer, and it's just too easy for them to cheat someone they don't have to look in the eye every day at work.
I don't see why employers are so afraid to ask for ... sm

at least the minimum lines each day.  I used to work at a hospital where the required minimum was I believe 40 minutes, which ain't a lot of work.  Most times (and this was when we were in house) the girls would chat and chat and chat and go for lunch and chat and chat, etc., and never work.  And they got by with it because they were too scared to demand that these people stick to the guidelines by which they were hired.  One day I went in to work OT on a Saturday and worked 4 or 5 hours, and I don't remember what my line count was, but one person typed 12 lines.  And she was supposed to be the regular Saturday morning person.  Some saturdays I would go in to work and there would be NOBODY there.  NOBODY typing in a hospital transcription dept. just because it was Saturday.  They got by with it for years, continued to get by with it, and we lost our jobs to MQ because nobody worked and nobody made them work.  Me, I worked.  I worked a lot.  I had (still have) goals, meet them, exceed them routinely because I happen to like paying the bills and having money left over.  Like I always say, people whine on here about no work but when there's a lot of OT to be worked they are nowhere to be found. 


I think most employers have just left
this board
ATT- I was paying $320 for 7000 minutes, I am now paying $175 for 5000 minutes in CA. nm
nm
Well, it costs sometimes. I have had to change employers before because
they were not going to negotiate with me. HOwever, there are plenty of places to work and I have luckily landed in 2 good ones.

I feel very fortunate today with my employment. I know full well it may change tomorrow but I am prepared - emotionally and financially - and will not let that disrupt my life. Too many options out there, folks.
What is FTP site and do employers provide this?
I heard that they have this site and will give you a username and password.  Or is this something I have to put together myself.  If so, anyone have any information on how to set this up?  Thank you.