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

production pointers please - mt2

Posted: Feb 01, 2014

I know some MTs say they make $17 to $20/hr. I'd love some pointers on how you make this happen. Even with decent dictators, I average about $9/hr and I have been doing this job nearly 17 years. Even my PC said some produce 500 lines an hour, I don't understand how they do it. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Production - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been at this for 15 years and feel that I'm at the top of my career game - I have excellent shortcuts, great speed, awesome concentration, and I'm one of the top producers in my region. I peak at around $18/hr. Having said that, I will tell you what is KEY for me: Removing distractions.

Before I reached my current level of production, I remember checking my Facebook page, or visiting here after every few jobs just for a little mental break. But, I was *constantly* complaining about how little money I was earning. Honestly, it took a *LOT* for me to really examine and get honest with myself about how much time I was mentally spending "away" from work during my shift instead of producing. It may only seem like a few minutes here and there but if you do this day after day, it might truly amaze you how much time it adds up to outside of the "work zone". It completely ASTOUNDED me how much extra I started producing when I eliminated those breaks in my production.

I will tell you honestly that once I really trained myself to focus ONLY on work and to move swiftly from report to report during the day, I was *absolutely amazed* that I literally DOUBLED my line count and my production. Part of it was eliminating the actual time I was away from work mentally, but also part of it was eliminating the time it took to actually get back into the "zone" once I started working again. If you build and work toward a consistent work flow by maintaining your concentration by removing any and all distractions during the work day, seriously, your production increase will amaze you. It's like giving yourself a giant raise. My whole entire attitude about my job changed, once my income did.

Good luck.

anon your post could have been mine! I think you have to hit rock bottom - East MT

[ In Reply To ..]
It hit home for me when I realized I was making about $9 an hour. since then I have really buckled down and shut out everything and even make my children and husband stay out of my work area when I am typing. I have peaked at $20/hour but I average more like $15 because I do have some accounts with Cuban accents.

Good luck!

YAYYY! I love a success story! - anon

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I'm so glad to know you worked it out too, good for you!! Seriously I wonder how many of us are killing our own income with our level of distraction.

What I never realized was, that just by staying focused those few extra minutes and getting 2-3 more reports done an hour it can boost your hourly rate by $5.00 or more per hour.

Facebook + MT Stars = income killers. :)

Your fellow MT - Good luck to you!

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I really think it is great that there are MTs here at MM who are able to produce so much, but why do you need to work so hard, or as some would put it, work smarter, not harder? You can call it what you want, but you are definitely working harder if you feel you have to produce close to 500 lines or more an hour to make a decent living.

While I am working here at MM, I am going to school for another career out of health care. In my research and knowing people who are already working in the occupation I want to go into, I discovered I will be earning $15-$18 an hour to begin with, with only my associate degree and without much effort as compared to the effort we have to put into this job.

I am on my way to a much more lucrative career and brighter future. I hope others will be doing the same as we all deserve so much more than just earning pennies per line and not being paid for all the work we do on this job.

Good luck to all!!!

P.S. I know that there will be some here who will not like my post and say, "Well you may not even complete your degree or get a new job," or whatever else they want to say to try to cut me down. All I have to say to you is, no matter how hard you work for MM, no matter how dedicated you are to this company, no matter how loyal you are to this organization, no matter how high you score on your audits, no matter how well you get along with your supervisors, auditors, coaches, etc., there is no guarantee that you will be working for this company tomorrow. You will just get burned by this company for your many efforts, gratitude, positive attitude, and all your loyalty--as so many already have.

Pointers - Questionable

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't believe everything you read and if there are a handful out there that do make that kind of money, they must stay at the computer practically 24/7. This company is the black hole when it comes to make a decent wage, no matter what "pointers" you try. They can also skew the count as well, so don't try to live up to their expectations; they are unobtainable.

First off... - see msg

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Pay no mind to anyone in a supervisory-type position that says some produce x-amount. That's to make you feel like you should be doing it, to make you feel bad.

Maybe some make what they say they make, but it's not the norm. Some MTs have cushy clinic accounts--the ones who make over $15 an hour (or even $10) these days are likely not working exclusively on acute care for MTSOs.

Pay no mind. You're riding a high game these days if you can pull of $9. It's not you at all.

And so I got out of the biz 2 years ago. Ptooey on MT these days.

And Secondly - see msg 2

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So true; pay no mind as this company will bleed you dry and in the process pay you nothing for it. If you insist on staying in the transcription business, get away from M*M and some of the other big MTSO companies. They are all the same; work you to death and pay nothing. I do clinic notes and believe me they are no picnic when it comes to line count but I can manage, if I stay on track, 200 lines an hour and that is working steady. These are American dictators and no voice and I make 8 cpl; so that is $16.00 an hour. No way could I make $20; I am happy with $12 to $15. Again, these sugar coated posts from supposedly MM employees slay me; they are either lying, don't work for MM or just want to daunt you! Again, do not work for this outfit. It is the devil.

Any BTW, I did work for them once upon a time, so I know what I am talking about.

How sad ... - anon

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That this person is genuinely asking for help and 2/3 of the responses are either "it can't be done" or "anyone who says it can be done is lying".

I hope no one ever chokes on a piece of food around you guys, they'd be up the proverbial creek.

listen to what the first poster says - new but old

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The first poster is right. There are days where I need that mental break and I will stop and go check my FB page but the days where I don't and only take the normal bathroom break or go fix a sandwich my LPH is at a minimum of 250 and can be over 300. Of course a lot of that is also dependent on my dictators. There are days where I can be going along great and then get slammed with one of those doctors who just is a bear to type. I try and take advantage on the days that I can just sail along. I don't use a whole lot of shortcuts (some here and there) and I use my mouse more then they would like but it is mainly just staying focused on what I am doing. It can be done and don't let these others get you down. You can get there just don't give up and try and start out with a good attitude every day. Good luck!!

OP here - mt2

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thanks for the replies...I guess I'm just slow. I have my butt glued to my chair other than a few bathroom breaks. I never check this website or any other during my shift, unless it's work related to reference a term I don't recognize. I don't even have the radio on in the background. Oh well, I'll just keep plugging away.

Pointers - MountainWoman

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I have been an MT for 35 years; since typewriters and carbon paper :) My benefit rate is just shy of $20, and I average about 350-400 lines an hour (ASR and maybe 3 straight typing reports a week). I have about 7 accounts, with my "main" account a teaching hospital, so I rarely get the same dictators more than a couple of times a month. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it, and I really could care less if anyone believes me.

Anyway, my biggest pointer would be to make a point to add at least one expander a day. Pay attention to words or phrases you use every day (i.e.,"clear to auscultation" or even the less obvious ones, or ones for a specific doctor that ASR always gets wrong). Get used to using that expander, and move on to another one. I started doing this about 3 years ago, and I was amazed at how much time I was wasting typing the same words/phrases over and over again. It will even help in ASR, since you can highlight a string of crap that is there, and replace it with an expander.

I'm not saying it will double your production, but it will help, especially after you get used to the new expanders, and use them without thinking, like you do your old ones.

Good luck. It can be done. Just don't let all of the negativity here beat you down. I would even suggest staying away from here for a few days and allow yourself to get away from the added stress of the rumors!

I'm editing this to add, if you ever have to look up an acronym, add that acronym with an extra letter after it as an expander. That way, you will never have to look it up again, even if you rarely use it. Also, if a dictator dictates the long version, you already have it stored (i.e., MRSA expander could be "mrsax").

all great suggestions! - corgi

[ In Reply To ..]
I do the same thing too with lots of expanders, I put the last letter twice of things I want expanded for diagnosis sections of charts, i.e., COPD, I'd have copdd which would expand to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Also, don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out a doctor's name to send a copy to or in the body of a report. If the CP says to leave a blank with QA note if you can't reference, do it. I allow myself 3 looks to try to find a doctor but if the doctor can't pronounce it right or spell it or it is a foreign name that I have no idea how to spell, I either blank it or spell it phonetically, depending on what the CP says to do.

I proof all my work, especially these days with how "crappy" ASR is. It is easy to have an extra word slip in that I didn't catch while editing. I wish I could proof as I go along, I try to, but I can't get the hang of it, but what I started to do this week was to try to proof as I go along the short parts of reports, i.e., social history, family history, review of systems if it is not too long, etc. By having those proofed as I edit, I don't look over them while I'm doing the longer paragraph parts of reports and I've noticed a slight increase in my line counts since I started it.

And learn all you can with keystrokes that keep your hands off the mouse; since doing that, I've also noticed a slight increase in my line counts.

See too if you can have some mentoring sessions from your QC person; I had that a bit ago and while I initially resented it, I did learn some things that helped with increasing production.

I've been doing this for over 30 years; I would say I range between $15.50 to $17 an hour depending on the reports I get.

Good luck!

production - production

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Yep, that is exactly what MM wants.

Maybe ... but my landlord kind of likes it too - anon

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And when my kids are fed because of that production, that doesn't suck either. MModal isn't the ONLY consideration for increasing production. We have to earn a living, too.

These are ALL great suggestions that we can ALL use, I love the idea of putting expanders in for everything and also I wanted to agree with the person who suggested mentoring sessions. My TSM is also very good about letting us know about the "refresher" classes when they're held. They're about 2 hours long but you get paid for them (benefit rate) and they are SOOO worth it. I register for these every time they come around and every single class I've picked up extra tips that I never knew about, or had forgotten - usually keyboard shortcuts or some new feature on Fluency I've never tried. Every time I've added a new feature to my toolbox it's helped my production just a little more.

Wow, such great responses to your question!

I have around 2000 expansions, and I average - The Typing Dead

[ In Reply To ..]
220 LPH. Of course, when I avoid distrations, I can do more, but I don't need to earn all that much now.

Expansions are the key. However, I did note once when I was sent for backup to a clinic (not my primary tertiary ESL hospital) the reports were sooooo easy. I cried when I had to go back to my regular account.

I have done MTing since 1974, and I still have to look up terms (there is some new GD piece of cardiac equipment every day.

Don't worry about how you are doing and just concentrate on getting it done. That helps me a lot.

OP again - mt2

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Thank you so much for the positive responses! I will definitely try the expanders and hopefully that helps.

I make about 11 an hour - but

[ In Reply To ..]
I honestly will say I am off and on facebook and here all day..My accounts ROT~ the second I get another dictator from hadies, I lose my concentration..I have expansions for EVERYTHING,,things to fix my spelling errors, things to fix ASRs common mistakes, capitals, words that normally go together and on and on..If I can make 11 bucks an hour and goof off as much as I do, I really don't see how you can't make 15 or even 20 an hour.. I am completely and totally ADHD and not medicated..So if you buckle down like people have said, you can make money..

I have not read every single post on this sm - justme

[ In Reply To ..]
but I hope someone told this MT not to use her mouse. I have a friend who worked for the Q while I did and she could never get her speed up and I had good speed but I never used my mouse.

It also depends on the accounts you have. If there are bad dictators who you can't understand it takes a little longer to go through the reports.

Using expanders is a good tip. I figure how many ketstrokes when correcting and use the least of them I can.

Good luck to you, keep trying and you will increase your speed! It's just that there are a lot of factors involved sometimes but don't give up!

productvity with ASR - oldtimer

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How does anyone make over 250 lph with ASR-straight typing I do great, but with the ASR garbage not very good at all. QC get averages for their region and our region averages only 215-220

ASR you need to make shortcuts to fix - sm

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I have so many shortcuts, my file is going to explode at some point. I can fix most of ASRs common mistakes with no problem..The stupid stuff, we are stuck with.. I also have generic PEs for most dictators and just replace it at the jump rather then dealing with the formatting and all that..It is a pain, I do ok and I am a MOUSER cannot break that habit.. I do 250 an hour easily regardless. could do more, just dont really care.

You just posted my thoughts exactly...oh look a bird LOL - me too

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I just put in my hours and make minimum line count just to keep them off my back. Could I do more and make more? Sure could. Do I want too? Not really. I make the same line count every PP no matter how many hours I work and my paycheck is always the same so why bother? I can't simply not be distracted and work, work, work. My QA suffers and then I'm told to slow down. I slow down and then scramble to make production. It's a horse apiece which one you want to concentrate on. But that's just me. Take their advice and meet your goals. I'm just not into MT anymore and on my way out so I just make sure I put out proper patient reports and don't care about the rest (as far as pleasing my MTSO). If the report is accurate then I'm fine. I'm not busting my A for a few CPL. The most I've made is $13 an hour. Eh.

No pointers - but comment - alphamt

[ In Reply To ..]
I find the more stringent QA percentage requirement impacting my production a lot, especially with working N because of the difficult dictators. A few times I have most of the week with difficult dictators, one after another, and this type of preselection of work affects us greatly but is not being evaluated as unfair. This has slowed my production...and the stress of not being able to hear, plus the constant difficult dictators takes it toll. I think a balanced weight should be the requirement on the management side if the standards continue to be more difficult to attain. Also I am older now, and sitting in a tense position all day is ridiculous! It does not increase accuracy to feel tied down to a chair, and stressed with higher and more difficult attainment levels and irritating sound quality. There are issues that MM can do its part to correct on its tech end, but these are never considered because we have no spokespeople in management and the supervisors (whatever the acronym) are apparently not allowed to make suggestions in this regard. Instead it falls upon the ME/MT to squeeze out a living despite all the obstacles to maintaining a decent wage. There is no accountability in MM, but the flowery language of public relations in the workplace is getting redundant and is destroying the American workplace. There is NEVER an encouraging or Win-Win attitude conveyed.

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