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

Pay .07 per line to start - MT2020

Posted: Nov 02, 2009

I've never been paid by the line. I have over 10 years radiology experience, and this company wants to hire me with radiology experience at .07 per line "to start".....is this decent pay? I'd have to type at least 1500 lines a day to make decent money. Is that a lot of lines to do in a day? Med Trans? Ever heard of it?

0.7 per line for radiology - ncmom

[ In Reply To ..]
0.7 cpl for radiolog is low. I type radiology nonstop for 8 hours and usually get about 1200 lines. (15 years experience). Hope this helps. Radiology skills are rare. I hope you find someone who values your skills.

Actually, radiology - sm

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is wonderful. I started out on radiology and loved it before moving to acute care. Acute care MTs can do radiology -- it's simply another specialty & we do them all. I still occasionally get radiology work when it's backed up. It's so much easier, more repetitive, and easier to make lines, but that being said, 7 cpl is way too low for ANY experienced MT.

.07 per line to start - Tara

[ In Reply To ..]
I think this is a little low for radiology, however, .07 a line is not terrible and it is a job. I would take it for now and see what your pay goes up to. A lot of companies start low and raise it versus some companies who just pay a certain amount and never go up. If you are being offered a job, I'd take it as there are many people without one. You can always quit later on if something better comes up and it gives you another listing and more experience on your resume. As far as 1500 lines per day, the normal for any job, full-time, is 1200 lines per day so 300 lines more is really not too far out of that range.

too low - Happy MT Robin

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7 cpl is too low for anyone with any kind of experience. I wouldn't take it.

I am right there with Robin; as long as we MTs...sm - Cyndiee

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Especially very experienced, successful MTs in the field, continue to grab low-wage jobs and demand no more for ourselves, we are doomed to stay in this "barely minimum wage" prison. I have been an MT for 25+ years, all aspects, in-hospital, clinic, psych, radiology/nuclear medicine, and all types of special reports. I specialize in any type of OP. Two years ago I had to look around because the company I was happily working for lost several accounts and had to "lay off" MTs; I was amazed. I would test, they would tell me (prospective employers, and I am talking even large companies here), that I had aced the tests, I was wonderful, when could I start, only to be offered as low as 6 cpl/65 characters. And this as an IC!!!!! When I asked for higher wages because I deserved such, I was told "we'll see in the future." And so I just kept plugging along with resumes, tests, phone interviews, etc., and just when I thought 7 or 8cpl was all I could hope for, I got a call from a company who had read my resume, and I was offered, after successfully testing and interviewing, 8.5 cents per GROSS line, which is everything counts as a line, all on the page is counted in, and it comes out to around 13cpl on a 65-character line. I have been there for two years, I am happy, I am an IC, and I just count myself very blessed to be have these circumstances.

But then again, don't we EARN this type of pay when we work our hands off pounding away day after day, not only being medical language specialists, but English grammar specialists, ESL and "disabled dictator" specialists (mumble mouth speed demons), attention to every detail, investing constantly in software, reference books, updating our knowledge constantly.......when will we all wake up and realize that we are PROFESSIONALS, perhaps not MBAs or brain surgeons or Ph.Ds, but we have a WEALTH of knowledge and experience, we work very, very hard, and we continue to downgrade our own profession when we keep taking anything thrown at us. I was making 6cpl when I first started working at home (I was a hospital transcriptionist prior to that), and it has taken all these years to get even near the wages that all good, experienced MTs deserve. What other profession has taken so little, especially when you contrast our wages with the cost of living changes in the past 20+ years??

Not flaming, I just hope all MTs out there really think about how good they are, what they are capable of, how hard they have worked and for how long, and start to truly demand more. I know that many woman are single moms or just single and trying tp keep up with mortgage/rent, medical care, food, utilities, etc., but we are truly de-valued, and it is a shame. People laugh at unions, but just last year I was offered, from a union hospital in my area, one of the smaller ones, to work in the acute care department, $29/hr to sartt PLUS full benefits, medical, dental, vision, long term and short term disability, first year 2 weeks paid vacation, 1 week paid sick/personal days, incentives, life insurance, 401K program....and had to turn it down as I had a disabled child at home and needed to stay here. Who will change our wage scale if we do not, together????? I am sorry to go on and on, too many years of seeing this sort of thing. And you are worth so much more for 10 years of radiology experience, unless that is just a "training wage" and you will earn more soon after QA or something such. Just my opinion.

Wow - MT2020

[ In Reply To ..]
I know it was hard turning down that job! Thanks everyone for the advice. I felt it was selling myself short. Just needed confirmation from my people (smile). Thanks again. I'll keep looking. Its not like I don't have a job. I can afford to keep looking until I find something better.

it's unfortunately out of our hands - steady eddie

[ In Reply To ..]
They don't care about quality, just a warm body doing an ass-backwards job. They want the largest cut they can get. We have too much competition across the pond and with technological "strides", if you want to be generous. Transcription has always been an outgoing of monies for the hospital budget. And now Medicare and Medicaid benefits require electronic medical recording in order to get that kind of funding or compenstation. (I don't know all the ins and outs, but I read it somewhere else on this board.)

We are doomed to go the way of the dodo and VCRs. We are soon to be has-beens.

Not picking on you; just think are bargaining days are over.

Enjoy your position for as long as you can, but I just lost two accounts within the last three months. One to offshoring and one to closing down because of the economy. It's getting pretty scary out there.

Can anyone think of any other types of work we could use our skills in at a hospital? Besides medical secretary? I cannot handle phones all day long.

May the universe guide us to our next fulfilling gig.

It wouldnt be our of our hands, if we MTs - would stick together and FIGHT IT.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Thank you - anon

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You are so right. Those are encouraging words.

Way too low, and if it's IC status, it's laughably low. - sm

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You have the experience - hold out for more.

I have worked in this profession over 15 years and... - see message

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one of the big companies, at one time having over 7,000 transcriptionists working for them, just offered me 0.775 per line for typing acute care. I was polite, very nice, and told them "no thank you" but when I hung the phone up, I promptly told them to roast in hell. No one can make a living with these pay rates. Thank you MTSO for valuing me. Yeah, right!

I tell them, thank you but that would be a huge cut in pay. - sm

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They need to be told why we're turning these jobs down & realize they're paying too low.

sounds too low to me - 7DayMT

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Ten years ago or so I made about 6.5 cpl for a radiology account and I had no radiology experience (still did pretty well because radiology is repetitive). But for your 10 years you should get more. Not that experience seems to mean that much with line rate in MT these days.

7 cents is a disgrace pay rate. Got my calculator going for you sm - ,

[ In Reply To ..]
I'd have to type at least 1500 lines a day to make decent money. Is that a lot of lines to do in a day? YOUR SENTENCE.
1500 LINES A DAY- 187.5 lines an hour. Can you do it hour after every single hour.

yes - MT2020

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With decent accounts, plenty of work, and decent dictators - a girl can dream can't she?

you are WORTH MORE, MUCH more, can't you SEEEEEE - .

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.

Not that bad... - Webber

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I make 7 cpl and will make over $30,000 this year. We do have a bonus plan based on production, so with that I end up with more per line if I get the line requirements. I can average at least 200 LPH. I wish I was paid more, but it's not like I'm in poverty over here making 7 cpl.

I don't believe the average MT can do 200 lph with the junk given to transcribe. - ,

[ In Reply To ..]
There is some pretty incredible bad dictators out there and management does not care one hoot "just make sure it is 98% accurate." Dictator should dictate like they were talking to their patients or there fellow MDs and coworkders, it is really really really bad out there.

I'm transcribing the same junk as anyone else... - Webber

[ In Reply To ..]
I have to transcribe the same junk as everyone else. I work across 4 accounts and am able to get over 200 LPH consistently. If you work hard at it, it is not impossible to improve your productivity and make a decent living, even with the worst dictators.

It depends - MrsM

[ In Reply To ..]
I did radiology for five years and found it to be repetitive to the point of boring. Mind-numbingly boring.

That being said, it was so repetitive (especially if it's the same crew of rads doing the dictation), that it is incredibly easy to create a vast amount of expansions and really crank out the lines.

I wouldn't turn it down. I'd give it a try for a month or so (if you can manage this trial along with your other job). You may just find you make more with the 7 cpl job than you do with your other position.

Yes, I'm prepared to be flamed, but I know whereof I speak. I did radiology for 5 long years and it was common to exceed 2000 lines per day simply because of the repetitive nature of the field. Perhaps the account already has normals for various anatomical regions (foot, hand, elbow, wrist, knee, etc) that you still get paid for.

I'd certainly give it a whirl before turning it down. In any other field, I would agree that 7 cpl is ridiculously low but with radiology it's enirely possible to earn major bucks with the right account.

JMHO and IME and all that jazz.

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