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

$10 an hour - anon

Posted: Sep 24, 2010

I need to find a job that averages more than $10 an hour. I have 20 years' experience in med trans and am a fast typist, but with the slow platforms and the constant "breakdowns" and being out of work, I am only averaging $10 an hour. Another problem is my line counts have dropped from 250 per hour to around 100 and cannot figure out why. Any ideas? Thanks

I don't have any ideas for you but wanted to offer support. sm - RoadRunnerMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I am right there with you. For some reason, I can't seem to get above the average of $10/hr and 100 lines per hour. I have 16 years experience but VR is cut throating me. I guess I am too much of a perfectionist as I review every detail. I cannot make myself zoom through quickly to boost pay and miss mistakes.

Im slowed down, too. A combo of software, the worst - dictators, demographics, and NJA.

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Couldn't resist some math on that production, RoadRunnerMT. - Anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
Let's see: Assuming a modest but reasonable VR production of 250 LPH, a line rate of $0.10/line (is that right for editing?), and ignoring any available production incentives:

You could make: 250 x $0.10 = $25/hr
You are making: $10/hr

You could make 2000 x $25 = $50K/year
You are making 2000 x $10 = $20K/year
(again, excluding bonus pay)

Are you SURE that your pleasure in that degree of perfection is worth $30K+ each year to you? You did say something about something cutting your throat.

Anon, from what you said, I think if you do your own math you'll agree the best advice you can get is to get out of there fast. That possible "missing" income should be tracked down and recovered, of course, but I personally wouldn't invest a single extra day at that company in just that. Others are making a living at other companies. Go get the job you need and deserve. Good luck.

NO ONE is paying 10c a line- ANYWHERE. - do not believe it

[ In Reply To ..]
so either i missed something important in this thread or your formulas are moot

I did NOT mean to raise this kind of speculation. The point is, - Anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
whatever you're making working at whatever, take care of yourself. Don't shoot yourself in the foot at work, or at least just take off the toe you'll least miss.

BTW, a lot of people are making 10c a line. So what if she happened to speak of her MT earnings after slamming VR? I make slightly less starting, but significantly more after adding on bonus wages.

The point is, do not victimize yourself unless your pleasure more than offsets the cost.

I get the point but - the math still is wrong

[ In Reply To ..]
NO ONE gets 10 cpl to edit. NO ONE.

And shooting oneself in the foot is a very subjective issue.

No, pretty sure this is her transcription line rate. - $10 per hour still way too low. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I was hired earlier this year at Transcend making 10.15 cpl. - YES, they ARE paying it for good skills.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Is that 10.15 cpl for VR? Cannot believe it... see message - lindawordlady

[ In Reply To ..]
At that rate you must be making over 50K a year if that is really true. I have 25 plus years of experience make less than 4 cpl for VR and a little less than 7 cpl for straight. I average about 11 per hour and do 300 lph VR and about 200 lph for straight.

Why would Transend pay that much? That just boggles the mind...

I doubt it is for VR, probably for straight transcription - Otherwise that would be ridiculously high

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm right there with you for experience, etc., and have worked for some of the most infamously "picky" MTSOs out there as well as in-house. I cannot conceive of anyone paying 10.15 cpl for editing, and if a company DID pay that, they would be out of their minds, lol!

Doing editing? - I think not

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Oops - my apologies. My 10.15 cpl is for transcription, not VR. - I should have made that more clear.

[ In Reply To ..]
My VR rate is 0.0525 cpl.

I've been doing VR since starting with them and now am averaging about 330-340 lines/hour on editing.

I do have one transcription-only account that is my primary. I work on my secondary (VR) account probably 40% of my week.

Transcend cut my pay from 10 cpl to 9.5 after MDI buyout - TooBadMDI

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I am getting 10 cpl with big national, so don't know - Educated opinion

[ In Reply To ..]
where you get your information that "NO ONE is paying 10c a line." Also, in my part-time job as IC, I get 12 cpl.

Good thing it's not to edit since that is what - I said

[ In Reply To ..]
OF COURSE people are making 10 cpl or more for TRANSCRIPTION (I do myself), but NO ONE is getting paid that to edit.

Said 3 times now so hopefully, you got it this time :)

You can say it 1000 times for all I care. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not the one you're trying to make your point with, lol.

Perhaps you are assuming that all posts other than your own belong to the same poster? Wrong assumption - as most assumptions usually are.

You also seem to think you're the ONLY person who has any idea what VR rates are. What a hoot you are.

Maybe you get it now!

I suppose you have worked for ALL MTSOs - Educated opinion

[ In Reply To ..]
and know for a fact what ALL are paying? Obviously not because my pay does not change whether it is ASR or straight typing.

The going rate for VR is 3 to 4 - certainly not 10!

[ In Reply To ..]
Apparently you have a much different VR than the rest of the MT world.

I think modest but reasonable VR production is 175 to 200 LPH and at the going rate of 3-4 CPL, which equates to:

175 x $0.03 = $5.25 or $10,920 per year
200 x $0.04 = $7.00 or $14,560 per year

and
175 x $0.03 = $6.00 or $12,480 per year
200 x $0.04 = $8.00 or $16,640 per year

Additionally, I have no idea what company you work for, but the last time I had a "BONUS PAY" was about the last time I had a raise... back in 2001.

See my post above, please. Anyway, - Anon.

[ In Reply To ..]
no competent editor does only 200 LPH. Your calculations need doubling even for lousy dictation.

Regarding bonuses, why not go shopping for a new company? Many offer production bonus and incentive plans. My own bonuses are the difference between satisfactory and good take-home pay. We're talking very significant money here over the course of a year.

Last pp my edit average was 347 LPH. PP before - that was 415 LPH.

[ In Reply To ..]
Your 175-200 LPH as "modest but reasonable" VR production is off. If you cannot edit more than that on a regular basis, then you are not an effective editor.

You should not classify everyone and every situation in that not an effective editor. - RoadRunnerMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Lots of variations including software used, ESL, demographics, etc that can all slow down MTs to put them in a category of effective versus noneffective. It isn't all about whether the actual MT is effective. You have to have the right tools to work with as well to get to that category.

Can you share some tips to how you get your edit average up so high? What software are you using? Even going 150%, I don't see myself getting in those ranges because the software I use on my specific account is just not up to par in my opinion. Way too many errors to fix. I use Dictaphone Enterprise Editor.

10 cpl to EDIT is absolute insanity. Most MTSOs won't even pay 10 for traditional straight transcription much less editing. Bonuses, haha, last time I got a bonus was over 10 years ago. It went away with the times. If I could get out of this field, trust me, I would and am working on schooling but in the meantime I have 4 kids to feed so when you are desperate you gotta do what you gotta do and something is better than nothing.

That Was, since OP clearly was referring to transcription rate, - 250 LPH was used as reasonable for that. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
(Is all this noise because some people don't pay attention when they read (great editors, no doubt!) or because they just want to be argumentative and unpleasant?)

I'm barely making min wage, I'd love $10/hour! - SassyPants

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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