A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
http://mmodal2.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/mt-compensation/
Please remember this – your company is paid for its OUTPUT, not for that high percent gain!
This industry has seen an alarming increase in MTs who are not interested in transcription as a full-time career. What is happening to the career MT? How will the profession attract the quality-minded, dedicated professional if MTs can’t make any money?
It won’t – it will attract the person interested in making a bit of extra money working from home – the “hobby MT” as opposed to the “career” MT.
MTs who are low producers when typing will see a higher percent gain when editing. They have much more room to improve. They will see a pay increase because they are very likely to hit that magical “% percent gain” number.
MTs who are high producers when typing will see a lower percent gain when editing. They are already fast – and there is only so much that you can speed up an audio file and still produce quality work. We expect them to listen to the entire audio file, don’t we? If they don’t meet that expected percent increase, they will lose money.
Reality Check –
There is a number we should all use as a reality check point when determining if an MT can really achieve the productivity she’ll need for her pay to stay whole as she transitions to speech recognition.
At M*Modal we call it the Edit RT.
How many minutes does it take an MT to type one minute of dictated audio? An RT of 1 means the MT is typing or editing as fast as the doctor is speaking. She is editing in “real time.”
Average for traditional transcription tends to be around 4 to 4.5 for U.S. based MTs. That’s approximately 135 to 150 lph.
An MT who can transcribe from scratch at a rate of 300 lph (and they are out there) is already typing at approximately an RT of 2. For her to double her productivity, she has to get to an RT of 1. This means that you expect her to edit AS FAST AS THE DOCTOR SPEAKS for every job if you cut her line rate in half.
Do you want your MTs to listen to the entire audio?
THIS ARTICLE GOES ON AND ON. HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO BET THIS PERSON WAS NEVER AN MT.