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

What is the lowest line rate you are willing to accept as an IC? sm - Not working for free...

Posted: Dec 15, 2009

I just applied for a job, aced the test, and have 18+ years experience. I was offered .06 cpl to start, but will be "generously" bumped up to a whopping .07 cpl once I've proved myself. I have never, ever been offered anything lower than .08 cpl in my entire career. I did make 7.75 cpl one, but that was 15 years ago, working for the Q on a simple ER account with templates out the ying yang. I really feel insulted here. Good grief...

I would really appreciate some input. Be honest, I can take it...

TIA!

Yowch - BBMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I just graduated from M-TEC at the beginning of June and accepted an IC position with a small MTSO at the end of June. As a brand spanking new MT I was hired at .08 cpl. Personally, even with my limited experience I wouldn't take anything less than .07 cpl, and I would only accept that with a guaranteed increase in pay after being off of QA.

Hey BBMT - - icmt

[ In Reply To ..]
Mind telling where you work?

I made 7cpl inhouse back in 1978! I wouldnt dream - of accepting that little now! nm

[ In Reply To ..]
n

Who the _ell is M-TEC or any of those other "MT schools," really? - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
The biggest scam to come across this board are schools with names like M-TEC or Andrews . . . or whatever/whoever. Who in the _ell are these schools and what is their actual agenda? They are NOT regionally accredited colleges or universities. A person CAN'T get a real job with anything that they are teaching. THINK ABOUT THAT. :-)

Andrews - just me

[ In Reply To ..]
I beg to differ with your statement that "A person CAN'T get a real job with anything that they are teaching." I went to Andrews, had a job within the first week after finishing, and I am still working from home in transcription---and supporting my family on the income from it. Better think before you speak and lump all graduates from these schools in with the rest of the matchbook ones.

hmmm... well... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I guess getting a job 10 days after graduating from M-TEC was just a figment of my imagination. I must have also imagined being let off of QA after 2 weeks and receiving an enormous amount of positive feedback from my manager about how pleased she is with my work.

Wow... imagine how well I would have done if the school I went to actually taught me something!

Obviously you haven't taken either of these courses, so how can you even really have an opinion on what they teach? THINK ABOUT THAT. :-)

Andrews and M-Tec - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, I apologize to you; however, I am EXTREMELY educated in all aspects of that "stuff" but what I have found is that many of the "QA" people or "editors" are actually not really qualified for that position at all. I mean the title "editor" should not even be used in the medical transcription field. The title "editor" is a journalism title that refers to a real editor who actually is very educated in the English language and other journalistic areas. I mean let's face it, medical terminology, A&P, and the other stuff, people learn those things in many healthcare fields AND many people take those courses in bachelor degree programs for distributive credit -- a person needs 60-62 credit hours in distributive credit plus another 60-62 semester credit hours for their major. Sure you have to be knowledgeable to transcribe medical reports, but many other people are educated in the same courses with different degrees. The problem with transcription is that many of the MTs are high and mighty and get their self-worth from "how many lines they can produce" (big deal, means nothing about medical knowledge or computer knowledge), and many MTs have caused the pay scale to become really a joke.

That's encouraging about hiring a new graduate. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
What line rate did they offer you to start?

Well, let's see - - LK

[ In Reply To ..]
M-TEC and Andrews a SCAM - I think not! I consider myself more educated than many MTs - a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington with a BA degree in Psychology and a number of years of pretty highly-paid management experience under my belt. For my own personal reasons, I made a career change into MT about 6 years ago and went through the M-TEC program after considerable research on MT schools. Their program was NOT easy. It was rigorous and demanding, and when I got done with it, I was very well prepared for an entry level acute care MT position, which I was offered before I even graduated. I have been an acute care transcriptionist now for almost 5 years and was very well prepared by M-TEC. I most definitely got a real job after M-TEC. Andrews also has a very good reputation for quality grads. So not sure what you're talking about . . .

IC at 0.08 CPL is like employee at 0.06 CPL, NO Way - Bun

[ In Reply To ..]
That is cheap labor, no way!

As a new grad... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
.08 cpl for IC is about right, actually it's a pretty good starting rate IMO. I see some of these newbies taking way less than that just to get their foot in the door somewhere.

You're right, you should feel insulted - Happy MT Robin

[ In Reply To ..]
Those are the types of rates I would expect to be offered to a newbie with no experience whatsoever. You just know that if you take the 6 cpl, they'll always find reasons to NOT take you up to the 7.

Personally, I'd tell them thanks but no thanks and keep on looking, unless you're absolutely desperate and about to lose the roof over your head.

Good luck. I hope you find something that pays appropriately soon.

Yes right - Oswald

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes absolutely agree with you,only a desperate situation would compel you to work on these ridiculously low rates.

Sharing the same experience - Muse

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm job hunting too and am really downhearted at the low rates being offered, not only in IC but also employee positions for those with experience and ability.

I simply want a company that will respect me while giving me something to respect too. I know I'm a baby compared to some on the boards, at 10 years of experience, I'm feeling pretty battle-scarred and cynical lately.

I will not accept less than - ...

[ In Reply To ..]
.08 cpl, and that is for non-ESL. I will not accept less than .10 for ESL.

Here's the most aggravating part...grrrrrr...sm - Wont work for free

[ In Reply To ..]
I told this guy right off the bat before testing or anything else that I would not work for less than .08 cpl. He said he understood and asked me to test. I "assumed" after seeing my results, they would be more comfortable paying me at that rate. So I spend 2.5 hours on a test and didn't even leave one single blank! Then we're back to 7 again! I NEVER would have wasted my time or theirs to apply for a job that pays .07 cpl. I'm ready to just go be a greeter at Walmart. lol

what makes you so sure that you will get hired at Walmart?..nm - ?

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

To "what makes you so sure"... my dad says that - everyone in my town

[ In Reply To ..]
has worked at our Wal-Mart at least once.

If he decided to not pay you more than 7 cpl after testing,...sm - duh?

[ In Reply To ..]
maybe you should have left some blanks instead of guessing.

To the ones who missed the point entirely and jumped in - just to be jerks....sm

[ In Reply To ..]
You can rest easy tonight and not lose any sleep. I fixed it. If you people only knew what I'm dealing with...single mom, just buried my husband, no food in the house for my 12 year old....you should be ashamed that ridicule was all you had to offer. You're sad...very sad.

Wow - Concerned

[ In Reply To ..]
Some of the people posting her are just plain nasty little biaatttches. Can't anyone be supportive anymore?

GOOD FOR YOU - for telling them off!!!!! - no message

[ In Reply To ..]
!

What a catty remark. You know perfectly well what - she meant was the guy wasnt honest with her.

[ In Reply To ..]
:p

Listen up everybody, I have something to say... - vintageMT

[ In Reply To ..]
There always seem to be a few MTs who seem to like to try to stir up trouble. I don't think that ANY of us post on this board with the same diligence and attention to either spelling or grammar as we do when we are working "on the job." This is a place to relax and let our hair down.

So, here's what I think is happening on this thread (and on some of the others too):

I think there are quite a few "suits" and managerial types who are posting on this board, masquerading as "MTs." They have a vested interest in attempting to get the general MT population at large into the line of thinking that "nobody out there is paying more than 8 cpl" or that you're lucky to even be offered a job at 6 cpl.

They can't do without us because we have the skills, knowledge and expertise to make their company look good to their clients...when all of their reports come back letter perfect, both medically correct and with perfect English grammar and usage...and when dictation discrepancies are flagged for the dictators' review.

They want and need our level of knowledge and expertise, but they don't want to pay more than third world country wages in order to obtain it, and THAT is why you see some of these "MTs" who are so grateful for having been offered a job at such low wages.

Face it, they can't do it without us. They need us, with our skill and knowledge, to edit and correct, not only all of their VR/ASR reports, but also all of their offshore reports as well. If they don't have us to edit them, then they'll lose their clients. Can you just imagine sending completely unedited VR/ASR or offshore MT reports straight through to the client? How long do you think it will take before that client is screaming about the quality they are getting?

So my advice, and what I am doing, is to read the posts here carefully, because I don't think that some of the posters are always who they make themselves out to be.

And me personally, I will not accept the low wages that they are offering. Because pretty soon, the companies that will climb to the top will be the ones who ARE offering their MTs a decent living wage...because those will be the companies who will end up getting all of the good quality MTs...and it will be those companies who will have the quality that the clients are looking for.

From the errors in the ads these "suits" and those who represent them - IAMT

[ In Reply To ..]
in placing their ads on this board and others, I would think any errors and typos posted here could be just overlooked without the constant "forum QA." Posting here is just not the same as while transcribing a report and we should not need to be as watchful. Those folks being so snippy here about pointing out each and every typo should just relax a bit and possibly simply don't come here if you are so offended by a typo. No need for being rude here or in QA IMHO. There - did I get through that without a typo???

Yes, I agree, just will take some time to see it though NM. - darlene

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Great post! ''Listen up--I have something to say...'' - Trisha

[ In Reply To ..]
This is an excellent post! (Have been around a long time but never considered the possible source/motivation of the deluge of ''low cpl'' posts.) Very thought-provoking.

10 cpl as an IC is equal to about 8 as an employee - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
with benes, and that's low enough.

Yes . . finally someone with a little bit of sense - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
You are no the right track! BUT . . . getting 10 cents a line is actually less than 8 cents per line; it is more around 5 or 6 cents per line. Why do you think that organizations pushed for home MTs and then independent contractors? THINK ABOUT THAT. :-)

Sad sign of the times - Stillmting

[ In Reply To ..]
I've got decades of experience, too, and have applied for many positions in the last 6 months. Of late, 0.07 is the TOP pay being offered. I just read the article about Spheris' CEO resigning and in the article it references the price war going on. I'm worried we've not seen the bottom yet.

Personally I would - onemore

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been paid from $0.0678 a line to $0.11 a line. It really all depends on the dictators and platform. Honestly, I did better with the $0.0678 a line than I did with $0.11 a line. I would give it a try and go from there. Also, some pay for spaces and some not, etc.

Just because MTSOs want to give away the shop - Does NOT mean we have to settle for slave wages

[ In Reply To ..]
MTSOs have led us to this point by expecting to undercut each other to get an account - at the MTs' expense. Let them eat the difference. When they figure out that no one will work for these slave wages (why should we? receptionists start at $18/hour now with NO medical terminology or knowledge needed!! :-( They are going to have to go after the clients and ask for more money.

We did not create this atmosphere of undercut, undercut, undercut, so why should we be expected for sustain it?

Let the MTSOs figure out where they went wrong. I just wouldn't take the job, but make sure you explain exactly why not!

Good luck to you finding something suitable.

MT pay - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
Why in the world have transcriptionists taken such low wages, especially as an independent contractor? Do most transcriptionists even KNOW what independent contractor actually means? If a person takes even 10 cents a line they actually are making around 5 cents per line. MTs who are ICs NEED to remember all the taxes they will have to pay themselves instead of splitting it with an employer, not to mention unemployment taxes, if they are even paid. If an IC MT does NOT pay unemployment taxes, they eventually won't get unemployment compensation. I personally think that compared to all other professionals who have their own businesses and work independently, medical transcriptionists are clueless about what people actually are paid. Even if the MT gets 15 cents per line as an IC, she/he is actually getting only around 7.5 cents per line. THINK ABOUT THAT. :-)

9/line min. Sounds like Meridith at GoPartners? - I SAID NO.

[ In Reply To ..]
I told them no to 7 cents. Said is would be like asking a physician (after all there study) to take $5 per pt visit. The industry is trying to price fix (we all agree on 8/line, hey other MTSOs) There are others who DO have 9-10 cents a line and even still that is low for what is expected and provided.

do a calculation 6/line, 1000/day, 8 hr, equals $7.50 hr. - equal $7.50 hr.

[ In Reply To ..]
see what I mean by NO. They just want to see how many will accept the low wages.

line/hr rate - cj

[ In Reply To ..]
Your math may be right, but I think your whole premise isn't. That would mean you are only producing 125 lines an hour. I know a lot of companies have that as their "minimum standard" but most MTs do more than that. If you average 250-300 lines an hour, then you will be making $22-$24 dollars an hour.

Similar Messages:

Nov 04, 2014

My primary account was yanked with ne'er a word from TSM and I'm waiting for an email as I've been below quota due to that. I've counted and I've done 21 different accounts today alone. So ticked off at TSM. She can't even type a sentence with capitalization or punctuation for heaven's sake. ...

Mar 18, 2013

Can anyone tell me if line rate pay is comparable to getting paid by the audio minute? Is 0.50 or 1.00 normal? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! ...

Apr 19, 2012

Would someone please tell me what the "piece rate" is on the check stub - and where does it show line rate? Thank you. ...

Jul 19, 2011

When a company states a line rate for a "65 printable character line" does that mean they do not pay for spaces? I saw an ad saying they pay the highest in the business, which was about 8.5 cents for 65 printable character line. That to me says without spaces, as it is not a printable character, so that would be a horrible rate surely not one of the best in the business. Wonder why there is no respect for our thumbs !!!! ...

Oct 13, 2009

Is it typical to be paid a higher per line rate with a clinic account or a hospital account? ...

Nov 25, 2009

I know a lot of us wonder what the reason is for PT status MTs to lose 1/2 cpl. We have been told that it is because at some point we could possibly switch to FT. If our bank, where we have our checking and savings accounts would send us a letter telling us that starting next month we would have to start paying $200 per month for our house payment, even though we do not own a house, but this was just in case some day we might, I think we would all tell that bank they were nuts ...

Nov 03, 2010

Hi. I used to work for MQ when they started VR. The original pay cut was 20% of CPL. I know it is much lower now. What are they currently paying for VR. Not interested in coming back but just curious. I left when they took away our primary accounts and started to send us reports from God Knows Where...Each report from a different account. Do they still do that also? Thanks in advance. ...

Nov 09, 2010

does anyone know what the going rate for line count (not character) is? someone is wanting to hire me for $.03 per line and i thought that was robbery ...

Feb 04, 2012

I was told that if they have to keep supplementing your paychecks to get you to mini wage then they will have to take action. What is the logic here? On the accounts that I work on I have yet to break 160 lines an hour and mostly stay around 150. I swear it just can't be done. All I get is ASR.... so here is the math... 150X.04 (I think) = $6.40 The requirement to keep my job is only 120, so really I am doing 40 more lines than I should. Here is what I need to ...

Apr 05, 2012

The company is moving over the VR. Currently I am paid 9.5 cents a line for straight typing. Can anyone tell me what would be an equivalent line rate in VR? I appreciate any input. Thank you. ...

Feb 25, 2013

Can someone please tell me the variables for VR line rate?? Highest amount per line anyone is making? I have been offered .045, is this average or low? ...

Mar 20, 2014

I just got laid off after 9 years of getting paid by the hour. At the end I was making $12.50 per hour that was with a large pay cut I got last year. I have no clue of what is a good line rate and how much that approximately equals per hour. I have read posts saying people are making mininum wage. What rate should I look for and how much per hour would that be for part time work? ...

Dec 17, 2014

I am Ambulatory. My time card says my QA and QC are 0% and my line rate is 0.07. What??? Like someone else who posted on here, I only have 1 score in FIESA from back in the beginning of December, and that score was 100%. Does anyone have any insight into why my line rate is 0.07 and why my QA and QC are 0%?? Anybody else in Ambulatory seeing the same on their time cards?? ...

Jan 01, 2015

Does anyone know what the going pay rate is for QA lines? Is it normal to get hired into a company as QA, or could it possibly be an MT position and they just want to pay me slave wages? I do have 15 years' experience, but wanted to make sure this is possible. ...

Feb 08, 2015

I'm down to 2 companies left and SS is one of them. Tried all the rest I care to. I've always hesitated to fill out their application because I thought it was ridiculous for just an application. I'm surprised they don't ask when you were weaned or potty trained! Anyway, I'd appreciate an honest answer. Thanks. ...

Feb 18, 2015

The last I heard TTS was paying .0342 CPL for editing. Is this still the case? I tried to calculate extra for headers that I understand TTS pays for, but that would only amount to about $1.65 per day, not even enough for a box of Top Ramen! I'm curious if anyone has insisted on more. Also interested in what you think of the platform used for oncology. Thanks for any info! ...

Jan 04, 2010

I am starting up my own MT Business and want to make sure I am not over/under charging. I was thinking 12 cents a line. Is this too much/too little? I am currently working for a MT business and I am making 8 cents a line but that company is located in Virginia so I cannot really use them as comparison of what to charge the doctor's offices. Please advise! ...

Mar 05, 2010

Hi, Just wanting to get some opinions on a way to go about asking for a pay raise from a doctor that I transcribe for. I definitely want to send a formal letter of some type and I'm not sure if I should ask for an increase or just state something like, Effective April 1, 2010 my rate from (whatever it is), will go to (and then the new rate). I really appreciate any input that anyone has. Thanks! ...

Mar 10, 2010

Just a question.....Tried to see where it was on the Q sites, but I just don't have the time to look. Anyone know if Easter Sunday is one of those days where we get paid 'extra' to work? ...

Apr 01, 2010

Last I heard it was 3.5 cpl. Do they offer shift incentives? Thx. ...

Apr 26, 2010

Why is it that we receive a reduced line rate when the blanks cannot be filled in by QA either? I've checked my feedback and most of the QA markers I left were also left blank by the QA person. So those reports should not count against us. How am I supposed to know what QA can hear or what they know? ...

Sep 25, 2010

It is just me or is 3.5 cents per line for quality assurance editing sound like a very low rate of pay, or is that the norm now a days? ...

Jan 07, 2011

I have been offered a position for 0.08 VBC line/65 characters. I can obviously figure this is going to be less than with spaces. Is there anyone here who DOES get paid this way and if so, how much of a difference overall is it? I have not accepted the position and am not sure how offended I should be, or if I should be offended at all since "this is the new industry standard." I have been in this buisness a long time and have apparently never dealt with this "new" way of ...

Jul 19, 2011

Is 8 cents a line (paid for spaces) a good rate for an IC? Is it typical? ...

Jul 20, 2011

Has anyone been requested to call to find out your 'new' line rate. ...

Jun 16, 2012

I went into Ultipro but still cannot find it. On the base rate page or whatever it's called, which I thought was where the line rate was, it's not there and all numbers are different and I'm probably not even reading the forms right. Thanks. ...

Sep 03, 2012

Does anyone know? ...

Sep 13, 2012

My last couple of companies have been devoured by the squid so i'm again exploring other options. Better to take an offer of 9 cents per line for ESL/difficult dictators or 6 cents per line for easy work? Both call themselves IC, though really they aren't (want a schedule). ...

Nov 15, 2012

I have never heard of this before. Can someone explain this? Is this different than just a plain 65-character line? Thanks. ...

Jan 17, 2013

Is it still the same? ...