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

Before Nuance, what was the highest you were paid per line/digital minute/etc. - CuriousMT

Posted: Oct 07, 2013

I'm just curious, I've been in this business for a long time now and haven't seen a raise in QUITE some time, but I sure as he!! saw higher paychecks than I see here.

So, I'm curious. What's the highest rate you've been paid to be an MT? What were your daily requirements too, if you can remember?

I'll start, my highest was $2.05 per digital minute and we were only required to do 65 digital minutes per 8-hour shift.

Highest paid - U. Wren

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The highest I was ever paid was $25.00 hourly. Things have changed quite a little bit, especially with this company.

Highest Paid - Fussy

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13 cents a line, spaces included. I sure miss it!

HIghest Paid - PasMT

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Highest was 10.5/line including spaces... It usually equaled out to about $21/hour.... I also had actual paid holidays without working, 6 sick days per year & 2 personal days... That all went to hell in a hand-basket. Now I can't afford anything. You get sick, you're out of luck, etc., etc. This profession sucks!

$3.50 page now - for radiology

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averaging $60/hr after Nuance (on same account just not working for Nuance any more). In 1995, $4.50 per referral letter, $5.00 per legal size sticky paper office notes and initial consultation reports.

HIGHEST PAID - ziggy

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To $3.50 page now for radiology - Where the heck do you get that much? That is awesome! I've been a radiology MT for 15 years and do not make that! Granted I've made pretty darn close sometimes in the past when the economy was good and standards were different but not recently! Wish I could join you - Kudos to you!!! :)

It's the hospital I worked at for years. - for radiology

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They were so disgusted with the poor quality of reports, "QA" who really didn't want to learn the specs and would forward everything to the transcription coordinator at the hospital and then disappear, that they called me back per diem. The person who recommended me is a manager and used to be an MT in the 80s and 90s and convinced them that's what I was worth. Definitely not the norm!

Benefits - CuriousMT

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Yeah, in addition to the rate I posted above ($2.05), I got full benefits (GOOD benefits that included profit sharing, etc.) Started out with 2 weeks of paid vacation and 1 week of sick time on top of that. If the clinic was closed, we were too (Holidays), but were actually paid for them. And our rate of pay for holiday, vacation, etc was usually quite good, as well! Oh, and if someone died, they gave you more than 1 day off! I had direct contact with the physicians I was typing for, and could get real feedback about my work instead of this crap where I get an e-mail because the doctor mumbled a weight of 182, or was it 192? and that's considered a MAJOR error. You know, because those 10 pounds could kill a patient. But I wouldn't have made that mistake because I was typing into the chart, where I had access to the intake sheet, etc.

Sorry, this has gotten off topic. My intention was just to see where we all were before becoming 4/8 or 4.5/9 CPL slaves.

I know one thing, though I had a really great wage before, I didn't see a raise for about 7 years before the end. I still find it funny that we get paid about 8 CPL as an industry standard for transcription... but how long has that been industry standard? Over 10 years for most people.

What are they going to do when minimum wage finally goes us again? Even if it's raised to $9 an hour, that would mean a minimum LPH of 225. There are quite a few people who struggle with 18 (which really depends on the account).

Just my 4 cents.

Cannot remember exact amounts but--sm - anon

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I remember being able to make $45K a year at Edix, I was working full time then at 37 hours a week. There was a weekend and evening differential. I rarely even had to work the full 37 hours because my line counts were high. One, I was motivated and I also had a good account. The problem is not only the line rate but crap work you do at that rate.

.0958 cpl for all straight transcription - nm - YD

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nm

About 0.0925 - however, ...sm

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was paid for CC's, headers, and 2 spaces; used a lot of templates because I had mostly the same dictators, not 100's like now; audio quality was better (pre cellphone usage). Making a decent line count was not a struggle as it is now for me. A clunky platform certainly does not help. Hard to make a living here, so looking to get out now.

12 cents a line per 65 characters - broke

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Also, I had another straight MT job that paid 17.65 an hour, then at the end of my performance year I got bonus depending on my overall performance scores which were usually between $400-$500. Man I loved that job, the insurance was wonderful and I was up to 3 weeks a year vacation...ah the good old days.

cannot remember the exact pay per line - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
But I averaged 22-23 bucks an hour, had great insurance, worked at home on MY OWN SCHEDULE. As long as you got 40 hours a week, didn't matter what hours you worked. HELPFUL feedback, great supervisor, always available, great company with paid time off, sick days, funeral days.

Those days are never coming back, but I miss them.

Been transcribing 20+ years and what a mess MTSOs have made out of this job.

HAPPY TO NO LONGER BE AN MT - ProMT

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Having been an MT for over 30 years, and having enjoyed every minute of it up until the last 5+ years, I have now happily resigned and am pursuing another career because I am BETTER than the pay and other harassment the MTSOs are doling out now. I have often wondered what the effects would be if all MTs were to "strike" for 1 day or demand higher wages and better benefits. After giving it some very intelligent and intellectual thought, my feelings are that all medical institutions and MTSOs would just pursue their option of outsourcing everything overseas. It has been a great career, again up until the last several years, and again I will not allow them to diminish my salary or chastise me on my ability. Good luck to all of you who wish to continue down the MT path or are stuck with no means of escape. Hopefully, one day, you will again be appreciated and respected for the type of work you do.

Would you be willing to share what you are doing now? I am still trying to figure out the best - Stuck

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area to move into that would use my skill set or at least be enjoyable. I cannot afford to retire any time soon, but I don't really have the luxury of going back to school for 4 years now either. I wish I could, so many other avenues I would love to explore.

14 cpl, as IC - Anon

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Those were the days! It was a hospital account, easy dictators, easy money, all info entered counted, spaces paid. That was in the early 1990s sigh,how far we have dropped.

11.5 c/line - nm

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x

When I worked for K-Force - Former Traveling MT

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I made $20-$25/hour plus $30-40 per diem (including travel days and weekends when on assignment.) My hotel was paid for (usually Marriott's or Hampton's) as well as my airfare, rental car & gas, plus medical, dental, PTO, disability insurance, etc. They would fly me home and back every 3 weeks so I could take care of personal business when on long assignments. I did this for several years, it dried up after Obama was elected and rammed Obamacare through. Things have definitely gone downhill since then.

Obama and Obamacare? Really? - CuriousMT

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You blame that on Obama and Obamacare? He was left with the biggest debt and budget deficit in the history of the US, has brought us out of both of those (while trying to tie up loose ends of a war costing us millions/billions each day), and he finally tries to take control of our out of control healthcare system where someone without insurance can go to the doctor and receive indigent care, but I'm barely making more than minimum wage, have a $2500 deductible, and still have to pay 20% of what's left after the deductible, but I can't apply for indigent or a discount because I "have insurance."

One of the reasons hospitals are having to cut costs and lay people off is to pay for all the people coming in with no health insurance. I'm not saying those people are mooching or anything of the sort, I understand that most of them genuinely cannot afford insurance... but we're talking basic human rights. If a child in your church has leukemia, do you not have a fundraiser to help that child's medical bills and such? What if a single mother of a child with leukemia was working 2 jobs, one of which meant she couldn't attend church because she HAD to work one weekend day, and Saturday wasn't an option, so she didn't have a church to rally behind her. But because her employers kept her just under the minimum amount to qualify for health insurance, or even if she did and had a huge deductible, then she'd be in the same place!

So, my point is that NONE of this has to do with Obama or Obamacare. It has to do with our world as a whole. Not one person, not one party. All of us in this together. Just like our crappy wages as transcriptionists. If we had all banded together somehow in the early days, we wouldn't have let them drive down our wages to that of someone who flips burgers at the local fast food joint!

And I asked how much was the most you were paid per line/digital minute, etc. The job you talked about does NOT sound like you were an MT at all!

NO DOUBT ABOUT YOU STILL DRINKING THE KOOL-AID - SAM

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nm

Yes, I didn't have this bunion either before - Obama was elected

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Is that an impeachable offense?

it wasn't for an MTSO, that's for sure - braindead

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definitely when I was still at the hospital, before they outsourced us. About $22/hr with great insurances and low premiums, 3 wk vacation, sick pay, holidays off (or rotating), PM-nights-weekend differential pay, pension, 401B, annual reviews-raises, NOT having to be typing every second in order to be paid, the pleasure of having coworkers nearby, and periodic social events while on the clock - seems like a fantasy now!

Pay - Ed

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Can't remember, but since being outsourced from the medical center I had been working at for 19 years and offered a job with Nuance 1 year ago, my income has dropped $23,000!

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