Pay will depend on many factors
Posted By: sm on 2007-06-03
In Reply to: I would love to be an MT - NAREY
My first year as an MT, I made $20k and that was at 6.5 cents per line. There are tons of jobs out there were you can likely quickly move up and earn more money.
The job will take dedication and the money will not just fall into your lap the first year or two but you can make a good living as an MT. The choice is yours!!!!
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so many factors to consider
I had to do this when my last child was born and it was very difficult. I think so much depends though on what kind of a baby you have. Unfortunately, my last one was very needy, cried a lot, and wanted to be held a great deal which meant that I basically was unable to work at all when he was awake. He didn't take good naps either, so I ended up doing all of my work late at night and early morning hours and needless to say, there was little time for sleep. I did it almost the first year of his life and I was one tired puppy.
I'm told from friends who have done it though that it can be done and particularly if you have a good baby who sleeps for long periods of time. Good luck to you!
As you said, it depends on a lot of factors.
I can get 200-250 lph with two of my dictators. There are others that I only get 125 lph due to the platform. I'd say anywhere from 8-16 hours for me.
There are several factors involved
I believe the average line rate is anywhere from 100 to 200 lines an hour. The software platform you are using, what type of report you are typing, whether you have templates you can use, whether you have an expander, all factor into this. If you type letters only and have no expanders, for example, expect the lower range. Those with many standard templates and heavy use of Expanders can expect to type much more than that.
The other poster is correct in that a lot of the national companies expect 150 lines an hour.
Depends on 2 factors.
1. Your line rate. As a recruiter, if you are on a clinic account, you'd be paid between 0.06 and 0.07 cpl. Acute care, 0.07 and 0.075....maybe.
2. Your production.
After that, it's entirely in your hands.
this depends on many factors.....sm
Privately if one is typing in a DOS program with very familiar MDs/work, you can do 300-400 LPH. If, however, one works for a national transcription company, you can slash that about in half if you have to type through the internet and use all the F keys and the alt-cont-shift keys and all that stuff which slows one down tremendously.
Just my nickel's worth. *S* And I know this because I do 400 LPH privately and about 175 LPH for a national.
A lot of factors come in per page.
I've been paid $3.00 per page and made out very well, but I didn't have to search for addresses or correct their language due to poor grammar. These were very smart docs. The reports were very short. The docs just told me to use my own discretion and expertise in regards to format, so I made them as simple as possible = less keystrokes. Hope this helps. Margins play a factor. She is probably better off charging per line.
Depends on so many factors
This can vary a lot. If you do acute care with many different dictators and lots of difficulty factors and all work types, it will slow you down no matter what. On the other hand, you could get a lot of normals and easy dictators for the most part who you are familiar with and rack up the lines. So many variables to consider. It's a toss of the dice really.
It is according to various factors, report
types, dictators, etc. If I am on op notes all day, yes I could do that.
There are lots of factors involved. Do you
use an expander/macros, are you able to be disciplined and work and not up and down or on-line frequently, do you have good quality sound files, do you have good dictators, how does the company count lines, etc. Most companies require 1200 lpd for FT, so use that figure as a minimum and do the math.
There are lots of factors involved.
How easy is the platform, how are lines counted, do you have reference books or do you use Google to do all your research? Do you have lots of normals/macros, do you use an expander, do you spend too much time on-line or are you up and down frequently?
I make $40,000/year working 5 to 6 hour days/5 days a week. I have an easy platform, lots of macros, an expander, multiple reference books. I do work for a national, but I am also an employee and get paid by gross line, so my $40,000+/year is better than an IC making $40,000/year.
I guess I was blessed. In my entire 20+ year carrier I've only worked for 3 companies and each one has been better than the previous one.
Is $40,000 what you think you s/b be making based on the TV commercials say you can make or is that what you need to be making? If you don't need that much money to live on then don't worry about it. You have to look at pros and cons of what you are doing versus working in an office and you might come out even by the time you factor in clothing, food, gas, etc. (I'm assuming you work at home.)
Not necessarily. There are lots of other factors
involved that could contribute to a large return, such as losses in the stock market, medical expenses, etc. Generally speaking though it is because you have claimed too many dependents or claimed single when you are married, but there are lots of people who are not able to save money so a little extra each month contributes to a large refund later and then they have the funds to pay off debt or do home repairs, pay college tuition, etc. Now if they put a little away in savings they'd have more to show at the end of the year, but with interest rates so low it wouldn't be a significant amount.
This situation might not be ideal for you, but it may be for someone else. It is their money, it doesn't affect my paycheck or my tax return so I figure it is none of my business.
Factors impacting income
When you have your own accounts and do the same things daily you can make more. There is no "middleman" to take away from your earnings if you do this, so obviously you make more. When you work for a service you make less. You can make almost as much if you have the same dictators every day and concentrate on production, don't allow interruptions and are willing to type more for less.
Speed results from multiple factors....
1. Experience: As you yourself suggest, time "in the driver's seat" will play a big role as you find yourself doing fewer and fewer "look-ups" - whether for terminology, physician names, etc.
2. Self-monitoring. Just keeping close tabs on your production will help. Try playing a little game with yourself to do just a bit better this hour than you did the last hour.
3. Make full use of your expander. WARNING: Many people actually overuse their Expanders and wind up with a jillion shortcuts that they rarely use or can't even remember. Create shortcuts when they make a difference, and use a good naming system.
4. Set up the proper auto backspace for your footpedal that will allow you to establish a rhythm in which what you are transcribing is "bracketed" by the next little bit and the previous little bit of dictation. In other words, you are always slightly listening ahead, transcribing and (when you lift your foot up and back down) reviewing the last bit. This "cycle" keeps what you are transcribing in context with what has gone before and what is coming next.
5. Pay CLOSE attention to the "story" being told - in other words, the context of what you are transcribing. Context is the transcriptionist's best friend as far as resolving ambiguous or difficult words and phrases, alerting you to omitted dictation, and alerting you to possible errors in what thought you had just heard.
6. Proofread as you go to minimize proofreading after the report is completed.
7. Spend only a reasonable amount of time on lookups, especially early in the report. You will often hear the confusing word or phrase more clearly later...provided you remember the blank you had earlier!
8. Discover "the zone". The zone is a mental state in which you are utterly focused on the dictation, almost like a trance state. Human beings are NOT MULTI-TASKERS! You cannot think about a million other things while you're transcribing and hope to achieve either quality or quantity. When you transcribe, transcribe and forget your personal problems. When you're dealing with your personal life, forget transcription.
9. Relative to #8, try to crate a physical space for transcription in which you are dealing with minimal outside distractions.
10. Use a GOOD PROFESSIONAL HEADSET. Most transcription companies distribute garbage earphones. Try a good noise cancelling headset such as the Kensingtons sold on Amazon.com for about $30...and don't let the price fool you. They're great.
BONUS TIP - POWER SESSIONS: If your scheduling permits, you will be more productive in four 2-hour sessions separated by a significant break period than in fewer longer ones.
I discovered power sessions when I was transcribing and attending college. It happened one semester that I had a class in the AM, one in the afternoon and one in the evening - that's the only times they were offered. So, I transcribed early AM, mid-AM, early afternoon and early evening, 2 hours each. I was never so productive in my life. Why? Less fatigue factor and a fresher mind. I really whomped the daylights out of the work for 2 hours at a crack, and then I got up and went to class, completely concentrating on something else. Then, on returning for another power session, it's almost like starting a new day.
The point is, 15- and even 30-minute breaks do not give you this fresh-start advantage.
A number of the people I supervise have improved their productivity dramatically simply by implementing the secret of power sessions.
Good luck!
Lots of other factors too. They might need MTs with specific specialties or high-speed only or FT o
It seems to go in waves. Lots of radiology jobs, then none. Lots of operative note jobs, then none. Lots of oncology jobs, then none. Then lots of openings again.
I just got high-speed in my subdivision; I think this will open a lot of doors for me that were not open previously. Dial-up only hurt me pretty bad in terms of who would hire me. Could not get flat fee long distance either, so I was a recruiter's nightmare. I was ready to move. Now I can get both through Comcast. Doing the happy dance in MN!!!
It should depend on the law. sm
x
It would depend on whether (sm)
the boy had any real driver training. I had driver education at high school and it was a semester-long class. I recently moved to a state where one day of watching videos and two days with 3-hr driving sessions constitutes driver training. All they require after this is for the parents to say they drove 40 hours with them. I never knew anyone in school who rolled a vehicle and since moving here I've met three teenagers who have!! These kids all live in town, but rolled the vehicles out on rural roads. How long has he had his license? Is he driving a car he bought himself? What kind of grades does he have? Who else will he be giving a ride to? I'd weigh these things out, then make your decision. One additional thing I would consider is whether your daughter would be the one to say "Stop this car and let me out!"
**would depend
x
This might depend...sm
This might depend on whether you are considered an employee or an independent contractor. As an independent contractor, they don't have to pay you if you don't do any work.
Something like that would depend on whatever
your company's policy is. Everyone is different.
That's because they depend on us....sm
....to correct their mistakes in spelling. Lazy suckers!
it really does depend on your company
All those questions depend on the company you work for. If I want to get paid for time when there is no qa, then I type. If I am being paid salary then yes, when there is no qa, I type. I do not type superfast because my parts are worn down from too many years of production typing and I am unable to produce 250 lines an hour anymore and so I cannot be held to that. That is why I am in QA in the first place, because I sure could make more money on production transcribing than I do in qa. None of us can tell you what your company expects though. So you are kind of SOL about what the facts are, aside from what anecdotal stuff you get from us. Good luck!
No, but it may depend upon account
No, I don't think so. I just got a job offer, and I can only work with satellite Internet. I have no land line; therefore, I cannot do Dictaphone C-phone or Lanier accounts. I only have cell phones. MDI-MD does not (yet) have many accounts that can be accessed as WAV-file accounts, and what they have seem to be heavily (i.e., 60-75% ESL!).
So to answer your question, I don't think MDI-MD specifically requires you to have unlimited long distance any more, but if you have it, you may be able to get better accounts.
If long distance charges are an issue, have you looked into Vonage or other Internet phone solutions? Your ISP has to have fast enough speed to do it, and right now our satellite speed is just under what will work well. But if you have fast enough speed, check into it. It's a flat rate every month, and I think it's now down to $29.99 for unlimited. If you have a friend who has it, ask them about it, and they can tell you. Also, they will get a referral fee (a month free or something) for referring you.
Hope this helps!
Well, that would depend whether you are Employee or IC.
This is how I see it..
If you are an employee, you would have to finish your 8-hour shift in the shift you agreed upon. You can not stop after 6 and start dinner, etc. You may be able to stop, make dinner etc, and go back and finish your 2 hours if you talk to you supervisor or boss about it and work it out with them; otherwise, you are supposed to complete the full 8 hours in your agreed upon shift.
If you are an IC and meet your production obligation in 4 hours, you can be done for the day and have fulfilled your obligation for the day.
Hope this helps.
I guess it would depend...
on how shallow a person is. My last name, thanks to my husband, is the name of something we used to do to each other in school (involving a wedgie)! Yuck. I accepted it, moved on.
would depend on your age and if you have a family...
there's a ROI ratio that has to be considered. What will med school cost? Don't forget to figure in lost wages while going to school. Don't believe full time med school and part time MT can be combined...but maybe I'm wrong. Also if you have a family, you better think long and hard. You never get your kids' childhood back. It's not like you can schedule them for when it's convenient....Personally, I thought about med school, but did kids instead and boy did I make the right choice!
I say it should depend on the maturity...sm
of the child and their level of responsibility of keeping up with things. My 6-year-old had her ears pierced last summer because she kept asking for several months to do it, but we ended up letting the holes close up because she couldn't keep up with earrings. I even tried the screw-on backs and she lost them in 2 days.
I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 13.
Probably would depend on a lot of variables.
what I would do. I would have to be in the situation, I guess.
Well - that would depend on many things sm
What VR platform?
Volume of work?
Type of work?
What is/was the rate for transcription?
There are other factors; however, some MTSO and Nationals go 5-6 cents less than they charge to transcribe. So, if the fee is 18 cpl to transcribe, it would be 13 cpl to edit VR.
Hope this helps. Personally, I think 7.5 cpl is way too low to start.
It must depend on the state, and if you have
then they must have found you to be dishonest in the past. The trend is to trust your transcriptionist. She can do what she wants, but she is only cheating herself if she does not charge enough. She is going to find at 11 cpl, she'll be lucky to make a profit, especially when she gets in to the issues of getting paid through the office. I have a lot of experience in these matters and the account I do like my work, do not QA (ridiculous) because if the office knew enough about transcription, they would know that your time is valuable. She asked the question, and I gave an answer. Like it or not, docs pay and well as long as they know you are doing a good job! Oh to ponder.... If she wants to charge per 65 character, then she should be charging 16 cpl, the going rate.  Hey OP, give it a try... if they complain it costs them too much, you'll know, and then reduce your rate, but keep it simple, make it fun... These people on here having you spending money on silly count programs have been typing for pennies for Nationals. Don't let them fool ya'..... Good luck.
I think a lot of that will depend on the company you are with. sm
whether they cheat lines, how many ESLs, etc. as to whether it is possible to get it up or not. i used to type 250-300 lph, but recently tried two different acute care nationals, one mentioned here often, and never could get more than 100 lph no matter how hard i tried.
i would think with 30+ years exp, your clue will need to be set up some Expanders and you could probably reach it. i take typing test online occasionally just for fun to see where i stand. it helps build my momentum and concentration as well so maybe try something like that to work on getting your speed up. also, speed up the sound file on any dictators you know you can understand at faster speeds. this alone doubled my line count because i tend to type faster if they speak faster.
Must depend on the area. sm
I have had their cable and roadrunner for about 5 years and service is always excellent here.
It may depend on the company, but
which you would anyway because once it is in Meditech, you no longer need the Word document.
Who would be the wiser? 
I think that will depend on what your cpl rate is...sm
I am paid a very high line rate;therefore 300 lines an hour would equate to a higher hourly rate for me. There may lie the confusion for some.
So, if you are paid 8 cpl and do 300 lines an hour that would equate to $24 per hour, whereas the same 300 line paid at 13 cpl equates to $39 per hour.
That would certainly depend on the VR platform sm
I currently edit 600-700 lines per hour accurately on EditScript; however, I can not nearly do as many lines editing using Dictaphone's VR program. There are so many variables that it makes it difficult to put a "average number" out there.
I can tell you, that paying 3 cpl for editing is an insult to the qualified and experienced MT/Editor with years and years of experience.
It does depend on the account.
I've worked Escription on 3 different accounts and all 3 are very different. I am impressed at how well the Escript picks up on reports and follows most account specifics. It all depends on the accuracy of the Transcriptionist as the program learns the reports and specs. If it learns it correctly, it will continue to spit it out correctly. If you have lots of account spec mistakes coming from the transcriptionist or different transcriptionists are not being consistent, then you'll have problems with the VR.
Of my 3 accounts, one is awesome. I easily make over 600 edited lines an hour and that is including taking a short break to walk around, refill my drink and use the bathroom. Average reports are between 50-70 lines each, all AC. The other one (which didn't last long) was averaging about 280-320 lines an hour and I did everything the same, all clinic and a waste of my time. The next one is also all basic 4 and I average around 400 with it being a new account and I know there is room for improvement and a lot of accout spec mistakes, which I blame on the other transcriptionist on the account, not VR.
You can make decent money on using VR by practicing you shortcuts, save expansions on the most common mistakes (one of mine being that the VR never picks up "10 point review of systems", etc, especially practice the punctuation shortcuts and the alk K and shift alt K.
Don't give up on it. If anything, give another account a try.
It would depend on what the hospital uses.
Every account/facility is different.
Firstly, it would depend on the accounts, etc.
Bad accounts - more surely yes, paid by the hour, at the very least $15/hour, with full benefits.
Good accounts, you would most certainly want by the line as some ladies on here claim 2000 lines + a day. Seems those people would lose out.
To make a more even playing field, I would go with hourly. It will probably never happen as long as our sister MTs in India, etc., are willing to work for literally 'pennies,' such as 2 or 3 cents/line...?
$225 month.Must really depend on company!
I want your electric company!!
That would depend on such things as what system they use
for transcription, is it fast or slow, what part of the country you are located, are there any duties you must do that is time consuming, like looking up addresses for copies, etc.
I just turned down a hospital employee job for 12 cpl and 18 cpl on holidays. The system was way too slow and cumbersome, to many "secretarial" duties involved when being paid on production, and a few other reasons. The highest line count an MT can get is 200 lph. I said no thank you!
I currently produce 350-400 lph on a very fast system.
Like I said, it all depends on what is involved.
Best of luck to you!
Might depend on the number of doctors you have...
Sometimes acute care you have literally hundreds of doctors and you never get used to them. Might be the same for clinic, but sometimes with clinics you can get a limited number of doctors, get really used to them, make a lot of normals, and save yourself a lot of grief. Good luck whichever you choose.
It may depend on the type of work?
If it is extremely easy dictation, i.e. clinic notes, than it may be worth our while as MTs with years of experience. I have almost 20 years experience but I'm making 7 cents for extremely easy work. Just a thought...
I guess that would depend on the usage. sm
I worked with a gal once who literally pounded and stomped her foot pedal. The hospital replaced it twice in 6 months. After the second time, she was told she would have to pay for her own. I'm easy on mine and have had it for 10 years.
I would think it be depend on the type of form.
x
It will depend on what your employer sets it at.
If your employer pays 65 characters plus spaces, they can set the parameters to count it that way.
That would depend on which expander you got. See inside.
Here is an excellent site for making shortcuts, regardless of what program you use:
http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/abczrule.htm
Must depend on the state. I am not required
x
It would totally depend on your company.
You need to have a talk with them. Each and every company is different in this regard. Are you an employee??? If so, FMLA is the way to go, your job is protected that way. Hope you get this worked out and get to feeling better.
It would certainly depend on that company's/hospital's HR policies. nm
x
Probably will depend on what kind of experience, and how long she has been away from it. NM
x
I guess it would depend on the platform. I get .0692 cpl at WMX. nm
x
Line counter that does not depend on MS Word??
I had a computer crash. After I reformatted my computer, I no longer have Word, only WordPerfect. All I counted lines with before was Word's statistics, lines with spaces. WordPerfect does not give lines with spaces. I have looked at several line count utilities and ALL so far expect you to have Word installed on your computer. They use Word and just report the line count to you (so what would be the point of purchasing a program to do that....just use Word!!!). I need an inexpensive reliable line count utility that does NOT require Word. Thanks.
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