Radiology account questions
Posted By: tiredwornoutMT on 2006-09-22
In Reply to:
I am getting ready to start a new radiology account and I was wondering about the going rate for MTs who do radiology any ideas would be great. I have not done radiology in quite a number of years, let alone pay anyone to help me and I want to make sure that I offer a decent line rate to the MTs. I don't want to take advantage of anyone and I am not sure what the going rate is right now. It will be a 65 character line count with spaces. TIA for your suggestions. 
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I have a radiology account and do --sm
x-rays, MRI, CAT scans, CT, ECHO, EKG, Mammograms, Cardiac stress tests, Nuclear medicine scans, ultrasounds, fluoroscopy studies.
Radiology account question
How does your company handle covering your radiology account? It seems that you have no way or predicting when radiologists will dictate so how do they hande it? I am experiencing sometimes they get on early and dictate and sometimes at night. This makes it hard to get turnaround or have a life. It is so unpredictable. If you do not work when the work is there though you do not get paid. I wonder if there is a turnaround time like radiology has the doctors or hospitals could have certain guidelines for dictating. I do not know but I am frustrated. I love radiology and my account but it is really causing problems at my house being on call all the time like I seem to be.
I work in Meditech for a radiology account and have no lag time. sm
There are a few things to try that might help. The first is to try to go through an NT connection if possible through their Citrix. Another is: Disable your virus protection, log in and re-enable the virus protection. I have found this solved my problem.
I am also answering your cut and paste question from your other post: It is HIPPA as the possibility of putting the wrong report on the wrong patient exists. However, I would go above or beyond your company's IS dept (they tend to be the most paranoid) and go to a production person such a Lead or Coordinator or even MTSO. If they are MTs, they tend to be more sympathetic and will often allow cut and paste when IS will not. If you are the only person experiencing this, IS is not going to be too diligent in helping. Worst case scenario? Ask for another account. Sometimes it is an account-specific, computer-specific problem, almost like putting the wrong size tape in a tape player.
Radiology transcription, what type of reports are considered radiology
I have lot of experience with everything and I would like to know what exactly is considered radiology so I know if I qualify for that type of work? I've had many types that I think qualify for radiology.
Meditech questions and Cerner questions. Any input is appreciated. SM
I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology. We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals. In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.
We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech. We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up. Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.
The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.
I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own. I've been in this business for about 15 years. I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting. So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry. I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible. So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner. Here are my questions:
- Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function? Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them? Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?
- How is a line defined in Meditech? (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)
- How is a line defined in Cerner?
- What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?
- Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).
- Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.
- What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?
- How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?
I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech. I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?
Feel free to email me or post here any responses. Either is fine. I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 
What is the difference between an acute care account and a multispecialty account??..nm
nm
I've never had a problem switching from account to account.
The problem I had was being switched too soon. If I don't get one account spec solidly in my memory with QA feedback on mistakes before starting another, I get confused. The other problem I had with former jobs was inconsistent QA. One person tells you one thing, another person tells you another.
Lately, I don't have a problem with it. Right now, my binder has 8 account specs (some I've never had to use) and I'm picking up a new weekend job for a while. The terminology and report formats stay basically the same. It's just all those little preferences. LOL
what is your account and specialty on the account?
no one is watching. tell us all about osi.
RADIOLOGY
I used to type radiology in-house for patients in nursing homes. After I typed the report, I would fax them to the nursing homes and they would put that report in the patient's chart. Then I would send original report to doc to get signature. After those are signed, they are mailed out to the nursing homes. I am not really too sure why you are asking but hope this helps some. The doc's never read my reports because they trusted me but I am sure they would want to before they put their signature on anything. 
Radiology
I currently am typing radiology and have for 27 years. I also have to type in patient information but not in the manner you do. Yor are right, it is extremely time consuming the way you have to do it. You should have some kind of patient log or the information should already put in the template. No, you will not have a high line count in the manner you have to do it. Radiology reports, as you know, can be very short and the time it takes for you to get the information overrides the length of the report.
Radiology Pay.
I was just wondering what other rad MT's are earning out there - and are U paid by report or by line? Which method do U think is better?
Radiology
It is interesting although as mentioned already, it lends itself well to voice recognition (because it is very repetitive) and many of us are currently unemployed because of that technology. Wish I had your experience in today's workplace.
Go for Radiology...
It seems hard at first but after a while they say the same stuff over and over, and don't go into huge detail - many MT's who do it are paid per report (like me), so the bucks can really add up. I've been on the same account for 8 years, no secondary account, never run out of work and find it much more interesting than the usual discharge summaries, H & P's, etc...of course TAT is pretty short, which can be stressful, but overall I love it! At my company radiology accounts are considered the creme d'la creme (sp?) so we are treated with a tad more respect (since we have the cash cows)...try it, you'll like it!
Radiology
Radiology
radiology
I was called by a former client of an old job to work radiology again, but at home this time. What is the going rate for radiology per hour and has anyone used RIS system? Thanks in advance
Radiology...sm
$1.25 per rad report, and the report can be lengthy or a normal report pulled from a list.
Sadly, I just changed MT companies, and I'm only up to 30 reports per day. It's not the terminology or the program - it's because of the dictators! Their voices are are muffled (which may be due to their dictating equipment), they roll the viewer while dictating, bang films, and dictate over each other. I listen to them over and over, trying to hear the words! I've transcribed acute care, and over 15 years of radiology, but never had such a problem with hearing the dictator.
I have noticed too, that when I'm transcribing by myself, I get alot of normal reports pulled from the list. When there's others transcribing, I never get any normal reports at all - they're all really long. That could be one of my problems also.
There are no benefits, but I was told that they do withhold taxes.
I have read in the archives where some rad transcriptionists get paid between $2.00 and $3.00 per report, but I have never seen anywhere near that amount advertised.
Sorry if I got off topic a bit!
radiology job
I noticed on this board a few days ago that Keystrokes was hiring radiology MT. Good luck!
Do I do radiology?
Yes, and about everything except I am not very experienced with oncology, as we have a girl that does strictly that. Thanks
6-7 cpl is very low for Radiology if you
have any experience at all. I work 2 jobs as an IC and make $1.25/report and 1 job as an employee and make $1.25/report. It is best to be paid per report unless you do nothing but MRIs and CTs then per line but not for less than $.10 a line.
Good luck.
radiology
Could some of you who type only radiology tell me approximately how many reports you transcribe per 8-hour shift? Thanks.
radiology
Thanks to all for your replies.
radiology
Do you mind my asking if you are you paid per report or by the line? Also, do you type for a wide variety of radiologists throughout the day? Thanks so much for the info.
no radiology
I do full med rec, acute care. never did radiology, too boring. mostly the big 4, but cardiac caths, EKGs, EEGs, etc. etc. by the way, Earth.
Radiology
In a perfect world where the doc dictates clear, has no marbles in his mouth, doesn''t talk away from the mic, doesn't run the alternator while he's dictating and has no hard accent, you could say that radiology is easy. I've been doing radiology for 30 years-believe me, I've had all kinds of characters dictating and I know what I'm talking about.
Radiology MT Job
Hello,
My name is Jennifer Ruiz and I would love to hear more about any positions you have for radiology MT's working at home.. I currently work at home and have been for the past 9 years doing strictly radiology. Feel free to contact me at 419-534-5552 or jendavidson888@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
ICs who do radiology....can you help?
Anyone out there who does radiology as an IC......can you give me an idea what you make and is it per page or report? I just want anonymous answers....no names needed....but I'm just trying to get some idea of what's fair for a radiology Transcriptionist as an IC. Thanks so much in advance.
radiology pay
By the report in my experience.
Anybody do radiology out there??
Hi, I was just contacted by our local hospital. They have an in-house opening for a Transcriptionist in radiology. I have no experience in this and was wondering is it easy to learn? Do you like it? How much could I expect to be paid per hour? Thank you for any advice.
radiology pay
Can anyone tell me how radiology transcriptionists are usually paid? Per document? Per line?
radiology pay
Can anyone tell me how radiology transcriptionists are usually paid? Per document? Per line?
Radiology going VR
I just heard my rad account is going to voice recognition. Apparently it is a trend in radiology so you may not have to worry about it much longer.
I do radiology
and this is soooo true! I have caught so many mistakes just from the radiologist, not to mention if they ever went VR! My sister was in the hospital and they did the VR type reports and she nearly died from being given medication that she was CLEARLY allergic to from all her regular typed reports. She has suit on them right now for their blunders!
radiology
Is radiology hard to do? What type of dictation do you transcribe doing radiology? I have always wondered about this. Thanks!
Radiology is like anything else
It has hard parts and it has easier parts. I like it because of not having to look up so much info on medicines. It is like anything else, though, the more you do it the less complicated it gets. The hard part is trying to get lines in. I have a good account, that pays by mean line, or report, and that is only way that I will do this particular type of report as rad reports are usually so short.
Radiology pay
Hi all....is $1.25 per report good for radiology? It is $1.25 per report and any reports over 2 minutes are an additional $1.25. So a 6 minute report would be billed as 3 reports. Is this a good rate?? It is using Meditech and a Lanier. Any info would be appreciated as I'm considering a position. Thanks!
RADIOLOGY PAY
Our radiology department is currently paying a part-time IC $3.50 a report.
Radiology going away
Don't count on having many more radiology accounts. They are all going to VR. However, as a caveat, these arrogant SOBs aren't proofing their work and are sending it through w/o editing. I am waiting for the first lawsuit to come through to make them come to their senses.
Radiology is all about
anatomy, views, contrast, and having a huge English vocabulary. Accuracy needs to be 100%, including listening for MD misspeaks.
The dictators I've done have been very quick and efficient for the most part, but most of them have PhDs on top of their MD, and they are super smart and worthy of really smart MTs because usually their dictation is so efficient.
I like the HPI radiology boook and I have The World's Best Anatomical Charts book that I found at Barnes and Noble. I also used Stedman's ortho book and HPI neuro book, and Stedman's ENT book, cardiology & pulmonology book, GI/GU, OB-GYN, and oncology book. I also used Sanders' lab book, especially the list of eponymic diseases and syndromes.
Never let your mind wander, no matter how repetitive it seems. Don't mix up the sound-alike anatomical terms. Always think about what part of the body you are in.
Bear in mind that radiologist's books spell certain terms differently than the Stedman's books do, but usually the MD's spelling is in the HPI books. It's a shame the publishers can't get all the books to agree because MTs tend to think the radiologists can't spell and the radiologists don't know why the MTs use different spelling from the medical books. Grrrrr.
radiology
How did your interview go for the radiology position?
QA for Radiology?
Does anyone know how to get into QA for Radiology? I very rarely see these types of positions offered. I don't know if it's because there are no specialty QA positions or if I'm just out of the loop. Also, if there are such positions, who is hiring for them? Thanks in advance!
Radiology is NOT all going to VR
Decent VR is really expensive and the majority of accounts can't afford the platform. There are at least three current jobs on another website for radiology and I have more work than I can do.
We are losing Rad accounts to VR, but far from ALL of them...
Radiology, probably sm
because it is where I started and was lucky enough to work two hospitals with nice doctors who would show me stuff on the films and it fascinated me. I went on to do acute care, like ortho and neuro, but came back to radiology. Guess it will always be my favorite, but I do miss the days of working directly with the docs.
Radiology, etc
"Does anyone think that one can go from Radiology to Acute Care or Clinical or should I be looking for a new career?"
I did this backwards -- I went from Acute Care to radiology and was able to transfer over the knowledge pretty easily. Maybe that works both ways??
I lost radiology accounts to VR too. The repetitiveness of the reports that made it so great to use word Expanders and make good $ at it apparently also lends itself well to voice recognition. Bummer -- I saw a really nice company that specialized in radiology go under because of VR.
Radiology
I have a friend in the same position. I tried to tell her not to get into the "groove" of radiology and lose her other skills. With work and the right company you could work on other accounts, but I wouldn't try to tackle acute care if you only have experience with radiology. JMO..
radiology
Okie - do you mind if I ask what company you work for? I have 30+ years in Rad looking for part-time work. You may e-mail me privately if you'd like. Thanks.
I don't know about RAdiology, but I know
requirement, like 120 lph for 8 hours, or 960 lines per day. Of course, for that you just get the hourly base pay and if you do more you get incentive. I don't know how much the base pay or incentive is, but I do know the hourly line requirement is much lower than one would do on production.
radiology pay
I've been typing radiology for decades. I've been paid by the line, by the seconds of dictation, by the report and by the page.
Paid by report means just that. Say you are paid $1.00/report. If the report is 3 pages long, you get paid $1.00. If the report is one line, you get paid $1.00.
You need to find out the percentage of the long CT/MRI/PET/angio reports to the short routine x-ray reports to see if it balances out. Also depends on the platform, whether or not you have to put in demographics, search for patient info, history, etc. - all that stuff slows you down before you even get into the actual report.
The good thing with radiology though is that you can rely heavily on expanders/shortcut programs.
radiology
My ortho background as well as discharge summaries really helped me in radiology. The only thing new to me was the Technique lines and the radioisotopes.
radiology
I don't know that I am much help. I have only been a paid MT for a year. Including an intern 1-1/2. But I don't do radiology either. I make .075 cpl which comes to about 7 something an hour because I only do about 100 lines per hour. So if it makes you feel any better you are making more than me. :) I hope after I get some experience under my belt the money improves.
Now my very good friend is a radiology MT. She works at home for a local hospital around here. She has worked with them for 10 years and now makes $13.26 an hour. And anything over 1000 lines per day she gets an incentive of 3 cents per line. So she does pretty good. BUT she has been doing this for this same hospital for 10 years. She had to work up to that. She started out making 8-something an hour and got a yearly raise (not sure how much) and now is at $13.26 an hour with the incentive. Have they said whether they give annual raises? Do you know what their top hourly pay is there? If so maybe you would have hope to work yourself up to a better rate. But then again if you can do better elsewhere go for it.
Hope this helps you. :)
radiology MT
Your friend has been working for a hospital for 10 yrs and is only making $13.26 an hour? That is NOT good! She is underpaid!
CPL pay for radiology MTs?
For those of you doing radiology reports on a cpl basis (standard 65 plus spaces), can you please share your CPL rate for a national? I have been doing rad work with no increase in pay. Long story...will not go into it here. Thanks in advance.
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