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

Question about charging for canned text - medtyper

Posted: May 02, 2010

Hi, I am new here, just stumbled across this site and is seems very imformative.

I just found out this week that my job is being eliminated due to the hospital I am working for going to an outside service. I am actually in better shape than the other 5 MTs because I have my years in for full retirement, 32 years to be exact. I have already picked up a small job working for a local cardiologist. My question is, I quoted her a per line rate and she is balking on paying that because she uses a lot of canned text. What is the norm in charging for canned text. Thanks for the help.

I've always been paid for canned text - me

[ In Reply To ..]
You could quote her a lower rate, or charge per keystroke (so you wouldn't get paid the canned text). In this market unfortunately I think the docs really have the upper hand in how much they are willing to pay.

I have always charged, and been paid, for "canned text" - ByTheLine

[ In Reply To ..]
I have never been presented with the issue of not being paid for all text. Yours is the first time I have heard of that situation. Seems it would a real pain to separate out one from the other for billing.

I require payment for all text .. canned, templates, headers/footers, all of it .. and would not go for per-keystroke.

Not quite sure what I would do - sm -

[ In Reply To ..]
I have always been paid full rate for any macros the doctors have supplied. I make up my own as well that they have no knowledge of as well and edit where needed when they dictate too, saves loads of time, etc. You could either just charge a lower rate altogether for everything, or separate out the canned stuff. Maybe keep a list of how many lines each is and keep a tab of what is in each report and then charge that at .03 a line for the canned stuff. That would be complicated and a pain to do though. Do you know what she is paying now? If so maybe undercut that by a penny and go from there. Or do a flat .07 or .08 cpl it if is mostly canned stuff. I think that would be reasonable if it is 70% canned.

what does "canned mean" - MTdummy

[ In Reply To ..]
Stupid question but what is canned text? And what is MTSO? I feel like a dummy

"Canned text" means... - CrankyBeach

[ In Reply To ..]
text that you don't have to type every time, i.e. text that you can copy and paste in, or pull in via expander, such as a "normal" or "standard" physical examination.

For instance... I do IC work for a local orthopedist, and when he's doing a preop history and physical, he'll say "put the normal exam." I fire up my expander shortcut and it coughs up this:

General: No apparent distress. HEENT: Normocephalic, atraumatic. Lungs: Clear to auscultation bilaterally. Heart: Regular rate and rhythm. No murmurs. Abdomen: Soft, nontender. No masses. Extremities:

And then he goes on to dictate the extremity exam for whatever body part is in question. Of course if some other part of the exam is not according to the "normal" he'll dictate the changes.

That's an example of canned text.

MTSO means Medical Transcription Service organization (I think). It's a company that contracts with a hospital or other entity to provide transcription services. The MTSO then either hires MTs as employees to do the work, or farms out the work to independent contractors. Big companies like Medquist and Transcend are large "national" MTSOs with many accounts and hundreds, if not thousands, of employees. There are also countless smaller MTSOs that might have only a few accounts, and a few people.

And remember... the only stupid question is the question that is not asked. :)

Canned text - medtyper

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for all of the responses. I think I am going to enjoy this site . Well I quoted her .10 a line, this is first job as an independent contractor and I have asked my boss's opnion on the price and she agrees that it is very fair. Besides .07 is a cut in pay from what I am making now and I kind of figure if I am worth that to the hospital where I work, I am at least worth that much or more to somebody else. The problem is she basically dictates everything even with canned text except the physical exam. I end up typing it because it is easier to do that than sort through her canned text. She isn't paying for transcription now because the office has VR and she hates it so she is contracting out her dictation. We will see what happens when she get her first bill and we will go from there.

canned text - MTdummy

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks a lot crankybeach (love that nickname by the way). You'd think I would know all these terms by now. I'm only going on 15 years in the business now! Anyway, thanks for the info!

If she is still dictating canned text, - It is not really canned (sm)

[ In Reply To ..]
You still have to listen through it to see if she makes any changes. That is a big difference from her saying "standard this or that".

I would hold firm on charging for everything. If you give in on this, you set the precedent for them calling your shots, and as IC you should be the one setting standards and practices for the service you provide.

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