A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Amphion line count, ichart, etc. - thmpper

Posted: Jul 16, 2010

I had an interview with Amphion this week. I'm currently working at a hospital, but the pay blows and their "annual raises" consist of about $0.25/year. I need to be able to support my kids and would really rather not work 60 hours per week.

The only account with Amphion that looks somewhat appealing to me is the iChart Dictaphone account, for several reasons. I do realize it is a lot of editing. I'm fine with that as long as I'm getting a decent line count. Is anyone out there on an iChart account? Can you tell me if it's possible to make a living with this platform? Is it possible to get enough lines with the VR to meet or exceed quota? Please feel free to email me if you are uncomfortable posting here (thmpper@gmail.com). Any other information about working for them is appreciated as well. Thanks for your opinions!

what's decent? - ex amphion mt

[ In Reply To ..]
AFAIK editing is 4 cpl, not paid for spaces, even if the job is transcribed, no spaces, but the line rate is around 8-ish I think.

Most of the work is editing. You might want to stick with the hospital.

decent - thmpper

[ In Reply To ..]
Honestly, I don't even know what's decent, but I need to make a minimum of $900 net per pay period for it to be worth switching. Do you think that's possible?

I doubt it is possible... - NoMoreMT4me

[ In Reply To ..]
I am still with them.
F/T.
6 days/week.
"Mandatory" OT (at least 1 hour more per day) almost daily.
Working exactly 40 hours/week...but not 1 second over 40 hours.

75% VR cpl and 25% ST cpl

After taxes and insurance benefits just for me (adding hubby would be $500/month) I bring home just over $400 every 2 weeks!

That is to say, though, that I do not YET make their 12,000 line requirement

PT is 6000 lines per pay period (20 hrs/week)
FT is 12,000 lines per pay period (35 hrs/week)

I have been with them since March. Only 1 team, only 1 account, usually have work, but the platform I'm on SUCKS! I have so much "down time" due to technical issues so my production sucks!

Take all that PC garbage away, I still am 2000-3000 lines short per pay period.

But if you got a good team, good account, and GREAT platform and can actually produce 150 lph x 80 hours in 2 weeks to equal 12,000 lines, then maybe you can make it financially...

But at mostly VR cpl, you won't be bringing $900 home. Sorry :-(

platform - thmpper

[ In Reply To ..]
Can I ask what platform you are currently on?

The only reason I even would consider the iChart account is because that one actually does include spaces and they provide equipment (I'm on Windows 7 at home, and their software apparently isn't compliant with it yet). However, I don't know anything about iChart; I have no experience with it.

I think what I might do is take on a part-time position with them and see if I'm getting anywhere. If not, I haven't lost anything.

see message... - Sassy Pants

[ In Reply To ..]
Triton is the name of the platform.

It is not Word based.

It's their own software they developed or something.

I have Windows Vista. I was told on the phone by HR that Triton is compatible with Vista 32 bit (which I have) and it has been nothing but problems right out of the gate...

My PC is constantly locked up, tech support is not very helpful, it is always "being worked on". I constantly have this error message log thing that pops up and I cannot do anything with it but get kicked out.

My LPH is sooo low b/c I cannot produce having to reboot every 2 hours (and sign out of all my other work programs that are required to be open before rebooting).

I maybe have a few hours where it does not lock up or boot me out, but it's RARE, mostly every single day I have Triton BS.

Jobs disappear in the middle of typing them, most of their keyboard commands do.not.work.

I hate it. I hate VR. I love straight typing, which is only 25% of them. Half of the VR reports are retyped b/c they are just wrecked, but you're only paid editing CPL.

I'm FT with them now but if I get that 2nd job I'm hoping for, then I'm gonna ask to go down to PT with Amphion too, as in work the minimum hours to still keep my insurance.

It's been months since I've been with Triton and it is still as bad as on day #1.

Decent - SteadyEddy

[ In Reply To ..]
You may make that much one pay period and then not the next. When I went to work for Medquist a year and a half ago, my checks were 1200 to 1500 every two weeks. When I left this past February they were 500 to 600. You do the math. I would stay with a steady income and budget from there. These services are too up and down and if you have kids, can you be working at 2 in the morning to make your lines because you were out of work that day? If I had a chance to go back inhouse and work I would take it in a heartbeat and never, ever, look back and never, ever work for another service as long as I lived. Good luck to you, but it is better to deal with the devil you know, rather than the devil you don't. If you did take the job, I wouldn't quit the hospital; if you can, try and juggle both. I know that would be very hard, but please don't put all your eggs in one basket with these services.

This post is spot on. I left in-house about 10 years ago. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
For the first 3 years I was extremely happy and made more money than I did in-house, but from that point on everything started to change. The super company that I worked for sold out to MedQuist and it was bottom of the barrel. Since that point, I've tried 6 different national MTSOs. They promise the world, but never deliver.

OP: It may seem like you're not making enough to make ends meet, but it may be better than what's out here. I have not seen a raise in pay, even a 0.25 raise in pay, in 7 years. In fact, my pay has been cut from 11 cpl to 9 cpl and will now be cut to 4.5 cpl when we go to editing in the next month. Editing was part of the reason that I had left so many companies. It wasn't the fact that I couldn't get up to speed on it, but it was the work available. Think about it...if they tell you that you should be able to produce twice the amount of lines that you do with straight typing (which is how they justify cutting the line rate in half), that means that the current work load will be done twice as quickly. If you averaged 1200 to 1500 lines a day and are now doing 2400 to 2600 lines a day, how long do you think that volume will last when everyone is trying to get the same amount?

If possible, trying working part-time from home to make a little extra to help with the budget. I would hold the in-house job and treat it as precious. I would love to get an in-house job back, but unfortunately I'm in the middle of nowhere and we're a 1-vehicle family. Now I deal with it the best I can.

Amen, Sister thmpper! - Starzzz

[ In Reply To ..]
Great post, I agree with you 100%. I was lucky enough to get back on with the local hospital. Not only do I appreciate them more, but they appreciate us more, too, after having worked with some bad MTSOs.

Should be--Amen SteadyEddy (I will figure this posting procedure out one day, Lol) - Starzzz

[ In Reply To ..]
;)

INHOUSE VS AT HOME - MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Here's another thing to consider when choosing to leave an inhouse job to work at home. It seems to me that many facilities outsource the worst dictators and keep the least awful ones for their inhouse MTs. Also, when volume is low, the inhouse MTs are taken care of first. I've worked for a few MTSOs where the dictators we get on the account are the worst out there, and I am 100% sure this is not my imagination. So, that's another argument for keeping an inhouse job.

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