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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Reading between the lines, the work is coming

Posted By: me on 2008-08-01
In Reply to: Advantage of using interns - Jen

from India and no experienced MT would be willing to work for peanuts to basically have to redo the report. 


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I wasn't being nasty - quit reading between the lines
x - but do not think that you are just going to walk back into this like it's a walk in the park. It's not. Things have changed and it's not what it used to be and it is not where the money used to be.
Can you say where you work that you can get lines that easily? Thx. nm
s
You are the One Coming Off as Rude.

How do you think it feels to mothers who work in-house to see you saying there's no way you'll work out of the house, your real job is a mom, blah, blah, blah??  You don't think they feel guilty at times because they can't find an at-home position or they can't afford to give up the in-house job and benefits? 


That's what irked me about your post.


Yes, since the 2008s are coming out now. Update them every
s
Funny how you keep coming back and posting this - sm
Makes me think YOU are the "owner" of Proficient Transcription. Hmmmmmm...


Anything coming from the AAMT holds no water anymore - they invalidated their status
when they sold us out for the $$ in India. AAMT means another chance to screw MT's, that's all.
If you enjoy reading . . . (sm)
If you enjoy reading, then MT may be a good choice for you.

If you enjoy reading dictionaries and encyclopedias, then MT may be a good choice for you, because you'll be doing both those things big-time.

If you enjoy reading about medicine and you like the "idea" of medicine, but you don't like actual patient contact, then MT may be a good choice for you (there is no patient contact).

If you like the idea of medicine, but you're afraid of hurting someone or making some horrible, life-threatening mistake, then MT may be for you, because there is little chance of that in MT.

If you are able to decide to do something and stick with it in spite of some parts of it being not quite what you enjoy, then MT may be for you. There are boring parts of MT, just like there are boring parts of any job.

If you prefer to function in self-directed mode rather than in closely supervised mode, and if you are actually successful functioning in self-directed mode, then MT may be for you.

If your concept of "accuracy" is what most people consider to be obsessive and nit-picky, then MT may be for you. If your concept of accuracy is "yeah, whatever," then MT is definitely not for you.






after reading some of your questions,

I wouldn't say you got the best MT education to be had.  I also don't see where you have interest in doing for yourself (that Stedman's Work At Home issue).  While you are looking at your insular little world, you haven't been around the past, well, even 10 years, to see the changes that have brought down this industry.  Ten years is not even considered one generation.  There will be need for GOOD MTs still for many years to come, but those positions will be held by the very best MTs to be had and who are still willing to work for the pay that goes down over time.  Many other positions that are now MTs will transition into something different, something still with a living to be offered but different just the same.


Just this year, my employer restructured its pay scale so that in order to make the same cpl, I had to produce an additional 4000 lines per month.  If I didn't, I suffered a pay cut of 1 cpl.  Obviously this has not happened to you.  I've been at it much longer than I suspect you've been an adult.  I do not plan to leave the industry although my alternate education is already in place.  I'm lucky because my skill set is very much in demand.  I am a high, accurate producer with flexibility and if I'm making money, my employer makes much more.


But I didn't get there by patting myself on the back and asking questions that some research would help with and save myself the embarrasment of my peers for not having done the research.


As to what school to go to, read the writing on the wall and take one of the top 3.  This industry has changed just in a few short years and if you don't know everything that everyone is doing, someone without education from the top 3 will have a more difficult time getting placement after schooling.


JMHO, which is free, and you're welcome to do with it what you will.


Been Reading awhile
I just wanted to say, that I have been lurking here quite a bit. My husband and I are both wanting to get into medical transcription. We plan on starting with Career Step next month. I don't have any questions as of yet, but I just wanted to say hi, and thank you all for giving the good, bad, and the ugly of it all.
I don't expect to make $80,000 a year, I don't need to.. I would just be happy if we(my husband and I) can make $30,000 a year between us once we have finished school and gained experience.
Again thanks

If all you get from reading the MQ posts
is about ASR, you're not paying attention.
Just Venting!! Thanks for reading

How come we spend our time and our money to go to school for this for something that is such a high demand for and we cant get a job doing it??


This is messed up.


 


MANY people? I saw one! What board are you reading?
nm
I love reading your posts Patti!
nm
Working for them and doing fine. I think you are reading into wrong. nm
xx
You are good at "grammer". I suggest reading
your post again.    I can't type but about 45 wpm if I'm typing from a piece of paper, but doing transcription I can type about 100 wpm.   Some companies request you type so many wpm, but I don't know how they measure that or what difference you make.  Many companies do require a minimum lph though.  Of course accuracy is more important than speed, but if you are getting paid on production you want to be able to type fast as well as accurate. 
If you have spent any time reading this board you
would know M-Tec would be the better option. 
If you spent any time at all reading this board you'll
see what a struggle it is for newbies to get jobs at home.  If you go to one of the better schools your chances are better, but still no guarantee.   I think anyone looking to get into this field now is crazy.  Lots of work being offshored and lots of working going to ASR, which leaves fewer jobs for available.  j
Spend some time reading through posts on this board
and you'll find your info about the preferred schools and the ones to avoid.  I don't know of any MT company that is setup to work with MAC. 
My deepest apologies because in reading my response and that icon, it came out much more sinister

of a remark, which was not intended as so sarcastic. 


 


Here are some great links and I hope they help!


Grammar errors:  http://esl.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsu.edu%3A8080%2F%7Ebrians%2Ferrors%2Ferrors.html


Miriam Webster Online:  http://www.m-w.com


OneLook Dictionary:  http://www.onelook.com


Grammar Slammers:  http://englishplus.com/grammar/mistcont.htm


Guide to Grammar and Writing:  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar


 


 


I'll sign that one...I quit reading her posts about a month ago
because they are so negative and condescending.  If she was nearly as smart as she thought she was, she would be kinder. I haven't read one of her posts in at least a month.  If I see her name as the poster, I simply skip that particular message. She is a nasty individual, in my opinion anyway.
Along the same lines
I went to a Community College in my city and received my MT certification. Most of my classes were online (only one class required me to go to campus). I could have opted to take them on campus, but because of my other obligations at the time, online was easier for me. I was hired by a national right out of school.
lines
Dont feel bad I am fairly new too. 7 months. I don't know exactly how many lines per hour I can do but I don't think it is even 150.
500 lines per day?
I was wondering about how long it takes to type 500 lines per day.  I am just starting as a transcriptionist, and they want me to type at least 500 lines per day.  Is this a lot?  
500 lines
I am also a newbie. 500 lines isn't really a lot. It is possible even as a newbie to do that. As a newbie your first few days or week on an account you may not get 500 until you learn what you are doing. But then 500 is easily possible.
how many lines
How many lines do you put out per pay period??
lines

I think you need to specify the pay period.  One week, two weeks, a month? 


I am a new MT.  I have only been working for 6 weeks.  I get paid every two weeks.  My first pay period was 3500 lines, second was 3000 (I went on vacation), and my third, which ended yesterday, was 7400.  I expect that by the beginning of the summer I will be up to 1000/day, 5000/week, and 10000/pay period.


But I also have children who need to be picked up from school, and I cannot exactly get a bunch of work done while they are home, nor do I want to.  I am not sure how things will go this summer.  I may have to work at night while they are sleeping. 


lines
how many lines per pay period???
# of lines

What is an average number of lines per day for a new MT (typing 60 WPM)?


On average, how long (in minutes) is the typical dictation?


 


# of lines
I realize I will be stopping to look up words for whatever reason and that it won't be straight typing without interruptions. I was just trying to get a ball park figure, that's all. Thanks anyway
500 lines
If it is ASR it should only take about 1-1/2 hours or less. If it is regular transcription it should take a little longer.
Lines
Lines are counted different ways. Sometimes they are counted gross lines, sometimes 65-character lines, sometimes 65 characters without spaces. You should really ask your teacher how they would like you to count them. I do not think that blank lines would count though.
Lines
Build your expansions, that is the key. After many years at this, I am still adding expansions almost every day. A split keyboard also helped me as the poster below suggested. I also started out very slow also. Don't worry, you will get there.
My very first day as an MT I did 667 lines. I had had no

MT training, wasn't a fast typist, had no expander. 


You can't compare number of reports because reports vary.  If you are doing clinic note they are usually short.  If you are doing acute care history and physicals they can be quite lengthy, same with consults.   I can do 40 reports one day and only do 28 reports the next, but still get the same number of lines both days. 


As a newbie you should do the best you can and not worry about what everyone else is doing. 


Or more lines as indicated below - nm
x
I would not take less than $48 as 60 minutes is est. at 600 lines - sm
$48 would be .08 a line. Granted he is giving you 48 hours to do it, and it will take anywhere from 3-6 hours to do depending on degree of difficulty, if you have to look up addresses, Dr. spelling, etc. All that SLOWS you WAY DOWN. $40 is only .066 a line IF it comes out to 600 lines, granted if it is less than that you make more $$$, but if more than 600 lines (say he is a fast talker) then you will get reamed. I'd get a sample first before you agree to anything. Good luck.
How much lines per hour?
Thanks everybody for providing me information few days ago, but I still dont get it how a new MT can type 75 to 100lph because I am able to type hardly 350 lines in 8 hours, this is after the correction i mean grammer, trying to find drug names, etc.
350 lines in 8 hours?
That really isn't much. You should be spending time when you aren't working studying *grammar* and such. I am a newbie, have been at this since January, and can get at least 150 lph. So far I am able to get about 9,000 lines per pay period...that's 10 days. Not trying to bash you or anything, but it sounds like you really need some practice. Websites like www.rxlist.com are great for drug names as well.
How *many* lines per hour...do you have a
nm
My very first day I typed something like 150 lines
for 8 whole hours.  My supervisor looked at the line count and made the clerk do a re-count, lol, surely they made a mistake!  Nope, it was me.  By the end of four months I was off of hourly training pay and on incentive doing about 1600 lines per day.  It will come if you work at it.  When you first start, your head is in books most of the time too, so this is taking away from your typing.  Just keep at it.
I do 1200 lines per day

as a FT IC.  This takes me anywhere from 5-6 hours normally, on a bad day it can take me 12 hours when I get distracted.  The point is that you will get faster with time.  I don't use expansion programs or macros, for me it is just faster to type what they say rather than try to remember what my "codes" are.  I have been doing transcription now for 15 years and it does take some time to get the hang of things, even when I started this job it was taking me my full 8 hours to do 1000 lines, then I was noticing I was getting it done in 4-5 hours so I upped my line committment.


I started out full time at home when I was pregnant with my first child, it is difficult to organize your time with kids at home but there are ways around it and still be very productive.  Where is your computer?  I used to keep mine downstairs so that I could still be with my kids and give them stuff to do and watch them but still work at the same time. 


Good luck and hang in there, it will get quicker for you!


500 lines for a newbie
I have only been working for 8 weeks.  It takes me 4-5 hours to do 500 lines.  Somedays, it takes less.  It depends on if I have to look up meds or procedures.  I also do clinic work, not acute. 
1000 lines
I do clinic notes and it still took me nearly 4 weeks to get to 1000 lines.  I only hit 1000 lines once, maybe twice a week.  Other than that I stay steady around 700.  I would imagine ESL dictators in acute care would have taken me 6 to 8 weeks to hit 1000 and I probably would not hit 1000 very often either. 
keep in mind that lines w/o spaces
average of 30% - so if you are getting 150 lph w/o spaces, it is the equivalent to 180 lph with spaces.
FT is usually 5000 lines a week and - sm
PT is usually 2500 lines a week. I have never heard 2500 for FT and 1500 for PT a week. I hear the hiring rate is 5-7 cpl. The most you will probably get is .08 after a few years, unless it keeps going down which I hope does not happen.
How do you make lines and maintain quality?
I'm trying to get up to company's line requirements but do not seem to be catching all my errors. Any suggestions?
I've always lost the first lines that were typed when
they come back on and change what they had said.  The report needs to make sense and if he is obviously going in another direction, it's just easier to start over.  It doesn't seem fair, but that is they way I have always done it.  Now, if you had typed a paragraph or so and he just hung up or got cut off, I would leave a QA marker and send it in and get the lines. 
200 lines an hour is way beyond minimum expected
s
Gross lines are great! Take it if it's 6-7cpl. nm
s
Orion Transcription/Vital Lines/Speech 4 Me

I am a newbie and have been dealing with these three companies about the possibility of working with them.  Does anyone have any information on any of the three companies? Good or bad.


 


what company can I do about 1000 lines/week from home?

Hi, I just got an offer for a day job with benefits but I want to do about 1000 lines of MT a week from home.


Anyone have any recommendations about a company I can do that with?


I just graduated Everett Community College's program.


A lot of companies required 1000 to 1200 lines a day. If you are just
starting out you can expect to do about half that unless you have an easy account.