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any MTs on Dictaphone platform? - KF

Posted: Aug 03, 2012

I am a newbie to the profession, and Nuance is my first employer. I graduated from MTEC a year ago, and I've been working since February.

I'm looking for MTs who work on the same platform as I do because I am not even close to making enough money to pay my bills. My TL told me that our team has people (no names were offered) who consistently do 20K+ lines per payperiod and presumably make all kinds of money. If this is true, then I'd REALLY appreciate hearing from someone willing to give me some tips about how to improve my line count/rate. I've taken all the suggested education modules from my TL, but I don't see nearly enough improvement.

I am on the Hunter team. I work 3rd shift Sun-Thur, and my primary account is a large teaching hospital. Running out of work (at least at my current speed) is fairly rare, although it has happened a few times in the last month or so. Does the type of account or the shift make a difference in possible productivity? I don't want to work on 1st shift, but I'd be willing to work 2nd instead, if it would make a difference.

thanks! KF

Well,. . - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't work on that platform but if it makes you feel better, I have been with Nuance a year and have been an MT for over 15 and I don't get over 20K lines a pay period.

So, I wouldn't feel too bad about not being able to do that kind of LPH.

re Well . . . not exactly - KF

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks Anon,

That doesn't really answer the question I'm asking.

It's not a matter of feeling good about my skill level - I need to pay my mortgage, etc., and since I am now single again, I need to pay all those bills out of my transcription income, preferably with enough left over to eat!

I was hoping to find a few MTs on my platform who ARE making it solely on their Nuance paycheck - and then hoping that they would be kind enough to offer some tips to a newbie that might help me get there too.

thanks, KF

Not on Dictaphone, but - Considering Nuance

[ In Reply To ..]
I am desperate for a secondary job. I have a great one, but in three days, I have not even made 1000 lines because of no work. We are all thrown together and it is FCFS! I love this company and my account, all American docs, but I need to make a 1000 lines a day and it is impossible to do with this company. I applied at Nuance and someone is calling me on Monday morning. Like I said, I am desperate, should I even try to make this work, if I can?

few things - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been an MT for around 1.5 yrs - started with Nuance last April - been on dictaphone and extext the entire time. Bounced around from a few accounts, but am on 3 right now finally pretty steadily.

Usually I'll average between 18-20k lines/period, but last 2 periods have broken 22k for that nice (lines * 0.02) bonus. If your account has normals it makes a huge difference - luckily one of my 3 primaries now has a huge ER that a lot of the docs do a nice ROS and PE normal that will make up for those nasty reports that take forever and give you no lines.

Some other things to keep in mind that most ppl and you may already know, but ohwell!

- a lot of docs will say the same thing over n over - if you can't get samples search some up and check out old reports (just be sure not to copy any patient details) - especially true of ESL docs. Saved me many a few times from having to pend.

- If you aren't running out of work, 3rd shift will probably be your friend - its not much, but the differential will usually give you around $50 more per period I believe. Downside is with less ppl working you may get stuck with a run of really crappy reports from one doc all in a row.

- a tiny thing that will boost your counts a lil bit - if your accounts allow it - double space after the periods! usually not practical on vr reports of they come in single, but during text jobs be sure to do it.

- learn to listen to docs on fastforward - unless they are superfast talkers already... start out at ~30 to 40% and work up as you can manage - may slow you down at first hearing all the chipmunky voices, but will be worth it in the long run... this is easier on exeditor as you can speed up/slow down without having to pause audio like in extext.

- most important! get a big whiteboard to stick above your monitor or somewhere in easy view - and start building your word expander list and jot them down on here to get used to and remember them - everyone will do it different but do w/e is easiest for you to remember - make shortcuts for tons and tons of words so they will become secondhand knowledge and you will automatically type 'abd' for abdomen or pt` for PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: especially useful for drug names and all the standard terms you will hear a few hundred times a week - hypertension, hyperglycemia, HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS:, etc etc.

also make them for common phrases docs will use - and their names for ones with hard-to-remember names (usually just use their id and ` for expansion is a decent idea).

one quick thing i never even knew till a few months ago - when your cursor is over a misspelled word and you hit the little icon button on keyboard next to the windows key - will popup the corrector box for a much quicker correction than right clicking.

look into getting a programmable keyboard with extra keys (separate from your normal kb) - with a bunch of programmable keys you can set to long common phrases or other things to save time - ie got my login and vpn info on a few keys so don't need to waste time putting those in every day

ok! maybe went overboard. hope some of this helps. email me if you got any Q's.

re: few things -- thanks! - KF

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks Anon,

My current account dictators (on 3rd, anyway) do not use normals hardly at all, and the couple times that I have found one to use, it was just heading templates. I will talk to my TL about adding me to another account or 2 that might give me a better shot.

Thanks also for the tips -- I did already know some, but there are a couple of new & interesting things I'm going to check out.

thanks!! KF

Definitely should stay on third and heres - why?

[ In Reply To ..]
If I am not mistaken I heard pay for third shift is 0.046 cpl and if that is the case 20,000 x 0.046 = $920 gross which would put you at $11.50 an hour.

If you worked any other shift then I think the pay is only 0.0413 cpl and
0.0413 x 20,000 = $826 gross which would put you at $10.33 an hour.

Good luck getting it up there. Expansions is key. I use a ton of them and couldn't work without my expansions and definitly work on speeding up your voice file. Have everything handy when you sit down so you dont have to get up too many times during your shift, stay focused and dont answer any phone calls, mess around on the internet or anything.

Another thing to keep in mind - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
figure out how much money you need to make per day and divide that number by 8hrs so that you know how much you need to make per hour.

Make every hour a *power hour* and check your lines at the top of each hour to make sure you are making your set dollar amount.

Of course when you work like this you will need a break or two. So plan for breaks ie. after 4 hours take a 30 minute break, get up stretch, move around and then hop back to it or maybe even just take two 15 min. breaks - work 3 hours and break for 15 min., work another 3 hours and 15 min., then after 2 more hours your done for the day.

If all else fails, go part-time and find second job on the side.

Question on night shift hours - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
What hours are considered night shift? and is it based on your own time zone?

Team makes a difference - Not I

[ In Reply To ..]
I have heard nothing but complaints from anyone I have known on that team about everything from running out of work to the management, etc. I was on Dictaphone and am now ES. I think ES is much easier personally. I agree with all of the hints given before, but honestly as a single parent who has been an MT for many years, making enough to pay your bills is almost impossible. Unfortunate, but true. That's why I am in school now almost done with my degree. Good luck.

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