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

To me2 making 40K - Adios

Posted: Jun 17, 2010

Just have to ask, how much ASR do you do? Are you able to fly through at high speed without going back to proof and still getting strong audit? Do you have several dictators with several formats or a handful with all the same format?

Your credentials are impressive but there are only so many things you can do to make that kind of money anymore and it is painful for me to know you are able to make that much at the same company, doing the same kind of work.

Also, how much time would you say you have to spend correcting ASR things like mL to cc, cardiology to Cardiology, three to 3, etc.

I'm not trying to be smart. I sincerely want to figure out why there is such a disparity in pay going on here. I feel I spend a great deal of time correcting things in ASR that should be programmed in and I still think ASR is a very big part of the reason I am making 40% less now, not just the lower line rate for ASR but that it actually takes longer than straight transcribing and proofreading is actually more time consuming.

I just can't seem to let it go. Something is wrong here. I really would appreciate an answer.

me2 - ***

[ In Reply To ..]
I do 60-70% ASR.

I don't feel like I'm flying through typing, but with ASR I DO read ahead and fix cc-mL way before the dictator gets there. I think this is what throws everybody off. Also, a trick I learned here, when they are hemming and hawing USE the Ctl-M to skip over it...you have the text there.

My word expander has 3000+ entries. If I type something out more than 3 times, I abbreviate it with something.

I have a 10+ CPL plus 1 CPL shift differential because I work a shift from hell (BOTH weekend nights, even though there is no benefit to it).

I am familiar with this account, but we get new residents all the time and a lot of the dictators and types I get are horrible. We are mostly ESL docs anyway.

I would be more than happy any more to do 100% ASR. You just need to turn off that little **** blinking thing and read fast (speed reading is my forte).

Don't know what else to tell you. I've been doing this since 1972. All this stuff sure beats those old blue dictaphone belts and those old IBM typewriters with differential spacing.

take care, as I said before, I don't cound on being here from one day to the next, and when I quit posting, you'll know they got me.

Hmmmm interesting. - Adios

[ In Reply To ..]
I do have that little damn blinking thing on and I have not used ctrl m. I will give them both a try. I also only get 8.75 cpl, think I need to renegotiate. Then again, maybe I am flying under the radar at this rate.

Thanks for the info. I do appreciate it and I will give it a try.

Spheris/Medquist - BH

[ In Reply To ..]
I was hired at Spheris at 8 cpl and 5.34 cpl for ASR.

Spheris/Medquist - BH

[ In Reply To ..]
You must not be in Cornerstone if you can use Control M. If I try that, I get a message saying I can't make sublists.

Good to share info. - Keep doing it.

[ In Reply To ..]
Not sharing pay information is something companies count on. Keeps people in check. Thanks for sharing your tricks of the trade.

just curious - none

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm just curious as to what kind of a rapport everyone has with the companies they work for. From reading these boards the majority of the complaints seem to be because people feel lost as to what is going on, pay information, etc. Are these MTSO that everyone works for or IC and how bad are the people that you work for that you cannot contact them to ask simple questions, like the ones you are asking here.

Curious, this is MQ - Adios

[ In Reply To ..]
We all work for MQ and it's not a matter that we cannot contact them to ask questions, it is a matter of a spin being put on everything, no straight answers that we can count on and they really do not care if ASR works well for us or not. They do not have a problem with paying us less.

If you don't work for MQ now, you probably will some day.

Me2 that leads me to believe you are cheating your lines - tired

[ In Reply To ..]
That being the case you should be gone..I hear it is done often..Not by me..

LOL What about her post makes you draw that - conclusion? Sounds like jealousy to me.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

ME2 post - tired

[ In Reply To ..]
Something about I am here from day to day and when I stop posting you know they caught me..Something along those lines.

jealousy Na if you can pull that off more power to ya - tired

[ In Reply To ..]
I know what I can do. So no I'm not jealous but I also know people that have pulled that game and I think it is disgusting.

please expand on the "game" - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
for those of us who are clueless? thx

cheating lines - tired

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't want to expand on here. Because it is never something I would have ever thought of until someone explained it to me..And it is wrong..

ok fair enough - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I just learned about creating spaces/lines with the space bar the other day.

I have never done it and will not do it, though. I'm sure DQS/ASR has a way to see if we are actually trying to create extra spaces/lines.

Posters like "Tired" are always suspicious of - anyone who does better than they do. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
The truth is that there are some MTs who fare better than others - with transcription, with editing, with learning software, etc.

There are those of us who are exception at it and are sometimes referred to as super producers or the like.

Those who cannot do it are always suspect. LOL

As Me2 pointed out, his/her high line rate does make them a target for termination. I doubt any cheating is going on at all.

Tired remarked he/she knows what he/she can do. Well, same here. At the Q, going on 8 years. Still making above the $50K mark. Had some slowdown and issue at first with ASR but worked on it until I was able to do it.

So, don't believe ALL of the negative hype.

sorry no hype - just down $12k a year no - matter how hard I

[ In Reply To ..]
type. I have given up lunch and don't even take bathroom breaks until I have to. Some accounts just are bad.

MQ pays for ONLY 2 SPACES IN A ROW AND NO MORE - ***

[ In Reply To ..]
so "cheating on lines" this way is not possible. You get paid NOTHING for the 3rd, 4th, etc., time you hit the space bar.

YOG had a big scandal with this many years ago. My CCM is from YOG. MQ may be hateful, but they are NOT STUPID.

If you look in your handbook, somewhere it tells you this.

cheating lines!?!..making 11+ cpl which - ***

[ In Reply To ..]
means they want to fire me and replace me with someone cheaper, according to all the posts I see here.

All they have to do is set you up with a bad audit and ...pooooof...like magic you're gone.

Like Me2, I also read ahead and fix things - 75% ASR

[ In Reply To ..]
like physical exam, numbering, labs, headings, etc., and this has greatly improved my line count on ASR (especially with dictators I get all the time). By fixing things I know are always messed up first and then listening to the dictation, I am able to go faster with not having to stop and edit as much while trying to listen to the dictation, and more able to catch the little things that are easily missed like is/has, etc. I also use the Ctrl M function (very useful/lucrative on those long reports that could have been done in much less time if not for the pauses). I wish we had this for straight typing. After starting to do ASR this way, I am now able to do enough to make up for the cut in pay for ASR and then some and am actually starting to like ASR.

No matter what, I can't produce the number - of lines reuqired

[ In Reply To ..]
in a day to make remotely what I used to make. Not at the line rate it pays unless ASR gets a whole lot better soon. My ASR is crap and every other word has to be fixed. It just puts jibberish. Glad for you, but I am lucky to even do as many lines ASR as I could straight typing because it is so tedious to fix every second or third word.

You should read the post by VR Trainer on - the VR/Speech board.

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Doing well also - NI Girl

[ In Reply To ..]
What you mention are all things that I do. By going ahead and straightening things out right away while they are just starting to give pt name, account #, etc. Of course, I make sure my ADT screen is correct.

I am doing well, been with the the Q for quite a while. I am still making a comfortable living. Great account, great supervisor. I usually do the same docs all the time so I know what needs to be fixed. I turned off that yellow marker the second day. It is nice to hear positive posts on this board. I have been an MT for 33 years so I have experienced the best and the worst.

And apparently you don't have the ASR - that has to have

[ In Reply To ..]
corrections on virtually every word.

ASR - NI Girl

[ In Reply To ..]
Actually 95% of my work is ASR. I use the same DQS platform you use.

I was going to post something just as ugly back to you but I had to erase it. It made me feel bad just to think that I might have said something like that to you.

To tell you the honest truth, if I would have read a post from you, that you were doing well, that you could thank God every day, I would have been proud for you.

I am not unhappy for you. It is just that people - who are not on the

[ In Reply To ..]
horrid ASR accounts that have to have every word redone and you can only get 100 lph just keep banging the "I'm doing great drum." Not all ASR is the same. I type on different accounts. Some ASR gets almost every word. Some hospital's ASR doesn't get but about every third word correctly. It is a nightmare and you can't run any line count. I am not unhappy for those who are doing well; it is just not possible for everybody. I am a good transcriptionist and I used to type a lot of lines per day and make decent money. That is not happening now and I am about to work myself to death.

one big thing - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I noticed about me2 and NI girl.....they both mention one "account" not 20 different accounts with different client profiles and hundreds of dictators. I have typed new residents on a rotating basis too. It's not that bad because you already know the account specifics, local info, cc doctors' names, etc.

That ONE fact makes all the difference for me in trying to figure out how both of you are able to make that kind of line count and salary even on ASR.

Thanks for the clarification. I used to be in your position 2 years ago before my wonderful account went to India. I thanked God every day for that account and cried when it literally went poof without warning overnight. I had been on that account for almost 10 years. Worst day of my professional life.

I'm still working hard to make back even half of that money, but it's not working.

you are 85% correct - ***

[ In Reply To ..]
It does help to be on the same account, but I spent a few months back in the "cesspool" at one point and it made very little difference in my count, even reading all the client profiles.

I attribute 15% of this to my high CPL and my years and years of experience. It takes fewer lines to meet my personal $$ goal. AND I get many jobs broken by other transcriptionists who give up after a few blanks. It is WORTH the time in the long run to listen to difficult dictators. It takes a certain knack, and I did spend 6 yrs of my youth in college listening to profs from every part of the world. When you concentrate, you can understand.

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