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

The Real Question... - justwondering

Posted: Jan 10, 2011

...Is there anyone who makes good money doing editing, compared to straight transcription I mean?

Apparently a few (discussed earlier also) - Most making about half

[ In Reply To ..]
what we used to. Disclaimer: Yes I am happy to have a job, any job.

My pay has been cut by about $400-$500 a month ... - MTbell

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Some of the accounts have clean reports, very little editing needed. Most, however, require at least 50% or more editing. I have about 20% straight transcription left and that is, unfortunately, with the really bad dictators who don't qualify for speech rec. I just don't see this ever changing either, at least not with my current company and accounts.

I've taken on a part-time job to supplement the income loss.

I should add my income prior to speech rec ... - MTbell

[ In Reply To ..]
was never that high, $32K at the most. I've been a transcriptionist for 10 years and have worked as an IC for that same company for 10 years. I type 90+ wpm and have experience with all specialties, all report types, and have had formal training at a community college.

It only pays half what straight transcription pays. - For years, Ive refused to do it. But, - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
with more of our work going to VR every day, I finally reached a point where I was getting so little straight typing, that I was lucky to get just a few reports a day. Had to take VR just to have something to do, in order to at least keep SOME money coming in. It's not THAT bad, but it's boring, and I have trouble staying awake while I'm editing. I keep falling asleep, then wake up and have to go back and find where I was. The VR software is perplexing, to say the least. Sometimes it can pick up certain accentewd doctors (provided they're not TOO bad), and yet will totally fail with a clear-as-a-bell native English-speaking dictator. It sometimes hears numbers better than I do, yet it can't get even the simplest common English phrases or colloquialisms... instead putting in some medical term, instead that doesn't even sound like what was dictated. I usually have to retype anywhere from 25% to 75% of the reports I get. It takes longer cutting and pasting and moving all that stuff around, within the confines of my company's VR software, than it would to just type the blasted thing myself. There is no way that MOST VR work could ever go directly back to the client. And when you figure that the transcription has to go through two sets of "ears" (first VR, then editor), and sometimes a third set... (QA, for blanks), they should be charging MORE for VR, not practically giving it away to the clients who think it's such a great deal. Those of us who edit that cr@p should be getting paid a L-O-T more than 4.5 cpl. It should be 9 cpl, MINIMUM.

Thank you for the responses.... - just wondering

[ In Reply To ..]
...and everything you just said is exactly what I have been thinking. I have done editing in the past with training people, and now I am doing it for VR, and it is extremely discouraging. I am literally making minimum wage. I agree with you. In some ways, I think VR editors should make more than transcriptionists because it is so time consuming and frustrating. I have been a transcriptionist for 22 years and I am literally making less money than I did when I started out 22 years ago with absolutely no experience. And, you're right, I could bang the notes out faster in some cases than the time it takes me to edit. I don't get how VR is cheaper for clients when, as you said, it sometimes has to go through three processes to get to a final product. And I feel as though I am paid peanuts to train a piece of software that is eventually going to take my job as a transcriptionist away. It is very disillusioning when all you want to do is work and make money. I worked four hours the other day and made $29. That was with no breaks and no fooling around. I can normally type 1000-1200 lines in four hours depending on the type of dictator I have. Thanks to everyone who answered. I was hoping to hear from someone who would say, just keep at it -- it will get better, but that does not seem to be the case. It sure makes you feel awful when you have all this experience to offer and you find yourself working more hours for substantially less money and unable to make ends meet, even though you are very good at your job. I was always so proud of the work I produced. Now I just feel foolish and small because I am realizing that my work is no longer of any value to anyone. As transcriptionists, we are just being used to perfect the software that will replace us, and they are making it very clear to us how replaceable we have become by what they are paying us. I have always loved my job and taken pride in what I do. Now I just feel silly when I think of all the research and time and effort I have put into my job because none of it really matters anymore. Thank you again for your answers. Sorry to sound so discouraged, but I just am.

VR, editing, etc. - dbcj

[ In Reply To ..]
I am currently moving to VR...I have to "hand-type" anywhere from 60-120 minutes worth per provider of documents until the "software VR" will be able to do it, at which point I will become an editor. So, I'm getting paid the same rate to be a "hand-typer" right now, and when I (and I emphasize, I) get this all set up for them, I'll be cut back to 3 cpl to edit the work. Seems to me like I should be getting paid more cpl right now since I'm the one doing all the work for the VR to get it right, IMO. 3 cpl is almost not worth it. I'm at a crossroads, that's for sure. So, no autocorrect in the system I'm using, and no medical spellcheck. It's taking me FOREVER to finish a document, as I'm jumping in and out making sure words are spelled right since my 20,000+ word autocorrect isn't in this platform. Ughhhh.....time consuming and frustrating. I'm easily over 120 wpm, been doing this 20 years. This is killing me!

editing - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't expect the VR to get better! They'll just your pay back at some point. You can't train VR as they think you can. Good luck.

Still a holdout - LK

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I really am not willing to do VR and believe I will leave MT rather than do it. It's a double edged sword - lower pay and mind-numbing work. I've only been an MT for 6 years, but so far have managed to stay away from it. I started out at Spheris and jumped ship after 3 years when my account went to VR and I could see that everything there was transitioning in that direction. I made a point of getting a job with a smaller company that has no VR and have been with them for 2-1/2 years doing straight transcription on a great account. It's hard enough to make money in MT without working for peanuts on something as frustrating as VR. I don't believe in going with the flow on this one, as the pay for VR is an insult to skilled MTs.

I know...read on - dbcj

[ In Reply To ..]
Believe me, I have something in the works. I just have to keep things going on as smoothly as I can before I jump ship (cross your fingers and say a prayer for me, will you?). I think I'm going to be able to get a local account of 2 providers that don't want to go to VR with the clinic they are at, and it can't come soon enough, let me tell you!! I'm with you LK...as I sit here and hand type into this document, I keep thinking to myself, how will this system know when the provider screws up and goes back to medical history after already having done that in the document? How does the system know that when she says, "after applying acetowhite", that she really means, "after applying acetic acid, acetowhite changes were noted". How will it know not to put in the information that she said four sentences prior because she repeated herself? It takes a really GOOD MT to figure that stuff out. I don't just type, I TRANSCRIBE. I'm very attentive that what I'm putting in that document is accurate and that it makes sense. Yes, I have the liberty to "fix" things and maybe some MTs don't, but let me tell you, if I didn't "fix" things and didn't listen while I worked, then the document in my opinion would not be client-ready. Let's face it...those of us who are good at this make these providers look *amned good! Ultimately I think what bothers me the most is that the company is trying to tell me (a 4-year college educated female with a Bachelor's Degree) that I'll make more money this way because I'll be able to edit way faster than I type. Really, did I just fall off the apple cart yesterday?? They've got us to do the dirty work for them...we're doing all the inputting so the VR can get on track. I'm astonished that they really think we're all going to believe it's going to be an easy transition and that we'll make more money. I'm sorry, but when you type as fast as I do, NOTHING, and I repeat, NOTHING, will have me making as much per hour as regular transcription. My husband said I should have told them I wanted more cpl during this transition since it's requiring more work and it's taking more of my time. I'm not kidding, I think most companies think all of us are little pee-ons who sit at home and clean house, do laundry all day, watch the soaps, and get a little transcription in here and there. Some of us are smarter than that!! I know I'm being taken advantage of, but there's that little thing known as a paycheck....just how much to throw my weight around at this point? I don't have an answer for that. Okay, I'm stepping back down from my soap box!

VR - noname

[ In Reply To ..]
I am so there with all of you about VR. I am spending way more time "editing" than I could to just straight type these reports. Recently, I am also figuring out that the ones that do get 'straight typed' and go through the VR software come back with less lines that on the previous platform even though it is still supposed to be the same pay rate and line calculation. In the months we have started being trained in VR, I have taken a significant pay cut. I am frustrated as well and do not know what to do. I feel like you DBCJ, I have always READ what I typed to turn out a good end product and took pride in what I did. Now I am frustrated as it takes longer to type these with no spell check or auto correct and am making less money on straight type alone (dreading straight editing!!). Eventually it will be less when we are straight editing. I do not see how this is gonna be a "good thing"! FRUSTRATED!!

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