average line count per hour?
Kcglaze
I am trying to figure out how much I will make per hour working for a
trancription company. Can anyone tell me what is the average line count per
hour typing 80 wpm? I believe this is based on a 65 count line. I appreciate
any help out there.
Kathy
nos...@mindspring.com
I don't think anyone can tell you that. There is no "average" line
count per hour based on a person's typing speed. There are too many
other factors involved. What matters in MT is not your typing speed,
but your experience, skill, and knowledge, which work together to
allow you to be productive. There are a lot of things going on
besides "typing." An inexperienced MT might only be able to produce
50 lines per hour, even if they "type" 120 wpm. An experienced MT, on
the other hand, might produce 400 lines per hour, even if they only
"type" 80 wpm.
The equipment you are using, the software the service provides or
requires, and the dictation itself affect productivity, regardless of
your typing speed.
We might be able to give you an estimate if you'll tell us how much
you've produced in the past. I'm going to assume that, because you
didn't tell us this already, you don't know because you haven't worked
as an MT. In that case, as a beginner right after finishing a course
like the SUM program, you can probably expect to produce 50 lines per
hour at first. That will go up to 100 or 150 within a few weeks, and
you'll probably be able to do about 200 in a few months, and you'll
probably level off there for a few years.
Peggy
Samuel Edelman
Kcglaze wrote in message <19980123050...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
>I am trying to figure out how much I will make per hour working for a
>trancription company. Can anyone tell me what is the average line count
per
>hour typing 80 wpm? I believe this is based on a 65 count line. I
appreciate
>any help out there.
>
>Kathy
80wpm x 5 (average word size) = 400cpm (characters per minute)
400 x 60 (minuets in a hour) = 24,000
24,000 -: 65 (character line) = 369 lines
369 x $0.07 = $25.85 per hour
Seems a bit high? Hope I did it right, feed back appreciated
Sam
InHealth Transcription
ilbrown
Well, Sam, depends, are you paying for every character typed or just those
characters seen, e.g., bolding, underlining, spaces, carriage returns,
caps, etc. Then one needs to consider the time given to proofing and
researching (assuming one proofs, after 11 years I still find it
absolutely necessary one forgets words or puts a not for a no, etc.),
resting wrists, moving between reports, normal business interruptions..
Samuel Edelman <InHe...@mediaone.net> wrote in article
<34c9b...@stnws02.atl.mediaone.net>...
Vickie
Sam - $25.85 is not a bit high. I earn AT LEAST that and most of the
time around $30/hr as a statutory employee. Might be high to the
service owner who does not want to pay his employees anything.
Vickie
InHealth Transcription
In article <01bd295f$2a847e40$8bee1fcc@default>, ilb...@ix.netcom.com
says...
> Well, Sam, depends, are you paying for every character typed or just those
> characters seen, e.g., bolding, underlining, spaces, carriage returns,
> caps, etc. Then one needs to consider the time given to proofing and
> researching (assuming one proofs, after 11 years I still find it
> absolutely necessary one forgets words or puts a not for a no, etc.),
> resting wrists, moving between reports, normal business interruptions..
RETRACTION: It's not high to an experienced MT. It difficult to find
MT's that want to work for a service who are capable of almost 300 lines
per hour. Maybe I should have stated it "seemed a bit high for the
average MT working for a service sorry...
Sam
>
> Samuel Edelman <InHe...@mediaone.net> wrote in article
> <34c9b...@stnws02.atl.mediaone.net>...
> >
nospamdi...@mindspring.com
inhe...@mediaone.net (InHealth Transcription) wrote:
>RETRACTION: It's not high to an experienced MT. It difficult to find
>MT's that want to work for a service who are capable of almost 300 lines
>per hour. Maybe I should have stated it "seemed a bit high for the
>average MT working for a service sorry...
Please don't take offense at this, Sam, but I have noticed that you
seem to have difficulty finding employees, and your statement above
pretty much points out the problem.
You're saying that it's difficult for you to find experienced and fast
MTs because they don't "want to work for a service." Where,
exactly, do you think we work?
You seem to be placing the blame on the MTs when you say that *they*
don't want to work. They *are* working and they are working for
services -- I can point out several services which employ upwards of
250 MTs who are fast, experienced, and accurate.
If you continue to place the blame on the MTs, you're not going to
improve *your* situation. If you're having trouble finding
experienced MTs willing to work for you, then you're not offering them
what they need in a job.
Rather than blaming the MTs for not being interested in a job which
doesn't give them what they need, why don't you find out what they
need and make it a goal of your business to offer it to them?
Peggy
ilbrown
Oh, I don't know that that is so Sam. Many experienced transcriptionist can
do this and more easily with a comfortably known account with expansion
programs, but I think the key word in this request was average. In your
scenario, nothing would be allowed to break the transcriptionist's stride
in a 60 minute period for this to be average, and each and every character
would need to be in the equation. This person needs to take into account
all of the other factors that go into this and I don't seriously believe
that would be average unless in an ideal world.. I don't live in an ideal
world. It rather sounds like the maximum capability.
InHealth Transcription <inhe...@mediaone.net> wrote in article
<MPG.f3406cfd...@STNWS02.atl.mediaone.net>...
> In article <01bd295f$2a847e40$8bee1fcc@default>, ilb...@ix.netcom.com
> says...
> > Well, Sam, depends, are you paying for every character typed or just
those
> > characters seen, e.g., bolding, underlining, spaces, carriage returns,
> > caps, etc. Then one needs to consider the time given to proofing and
> > researching (assuming one proofs, after 11 years I still find it
> > absolutely necessary one forgets words or puts a not for a no, etc.),
> > resting wrists, moving between reports, normal business interruptions..
>
> RETRACTION: It's not high to an experienced MT. It difficult to find
> MT's that want to work for a service who are capable of almost 300 lines
> per hour. Maybe I should have stated it "seemed a bit high for the
> average MT working for a service sorry...
>
Judy
Sam, a flaw in your theory could be the use of the wpm statistic. This is usually
used in reference to copy typing in a classroom situation. Transcription involves
much more brain activity than copying, and therefore a more extended period of time
elapses before the word actually gets listened to, interpreted, and keyed.
Additionally, clinic settings may have an average word length of 5 characters, but
hospital setting are closer to a length of 7 characters. And since that doesn't
include the spaces, the calculations may be further skewed. (A space is a character,
it does require input, and could add 20% to the final character-based line count.)
A final comment is a caution to health-wise all calculated projections with health
breaks. Five minutes away from the keyboard per hour, and two 10 minute breaks in 8
hours will help stave off RSI and mental deterioration!
Judy in Wisconsin
TransVision Group
Bob Willard
Sam,
You did the arithmetic correctly, but typing speed is usually not the
major controlling factor affecting an MT's productivity. I'd guess that
most experienced MTs are capable of typing 80 words per minute.
However, a doctor's dictation (hesitant with many pauses, difficult to
understand due to a foreign accent, changing his mind, not following
format) can substantially decrease productivity in terms of hourly
earning -- not to mention the time an MT may have to spend researching
terminology or drugs.
In practice I would say that at 7 cents a line using a 65 character line
count an MT would be doing *very* well to transcribe 300 lines an hour
($21 an hour), and that a bit less than that might be more realistic.
Bob
EdziuG
Peggy wrote:
>Please don't take offense at this, Sam, but I have noticed that you
>seem to have difficulty finding employees, and your statement above
>pretty much points out the problem.
Peggy was being very kind there!
>You're saying that it's difficult for you to find experienced and fast
>MTs because they don't "want to work for a service." Where,
>exactly, do you think we work?
>
>You seem to be placing the blame on the MTs when you say that *they*
>don't want to work. They *are* working and they are working for
>services -- I can point out several services which employ upwards of
>250 MTs who are fast, experienced, and accurate.
I work for TL, almost 2,000 MTs I believe. I get paid by the page, not by the
line. I make just under Sam's figures, but I probably type more than that when
I am typing and still manage to get in my 20 coffee breaks and BS breaks a day.
>
>If you continue to place the blame on the MTs, you're not going to
>improve *your* situation. If you're having trouble finding
>experienced MTs willing to work for you, then you're not offering them
>what they need in a job.
>
>Rather than blaming the MTs for not being interested in a job which
>doesn't give them what they need, why don't you find out what they
>need and make it a goal of your business to offer it to them?
>
>
Hear, hear!
============
Edward Gmys
"Freaks are people too."
- Ricky Lake, January 1998
Gail M. Hall
On Sat, 24 Jan 1998 05:14:34 -0500, "Samuel Edelman" <InHe...@mediaone.net>
posted to sci.med.transcription about "Re: average line count per hour?":
>
>Kcglaze wrote in message <19980123050...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
>>I am trying to figure out how much I will make per hour working for a
>>trancription company. Can anyone tell me what is the average line count
>per
>>hour typing 80 wpm? I believe this is based on a 65 count line. I
>appreciate
>>any help out there.
>>
>>Kathy
>
>
>80wpm x 5 (average word size) = 400cpm (characters per minute)
>400 x 60 (minuets in a hour) = 24,000
>24,000 -: 65 (character line) = 369 lines
>369 x $0.07 = $25.85 per hour
>
>Seems a bit high? Hope I did it right, feed back appreciated
>
>Sam
>InHealth Transcription
>
Obviously Sam is not a true MT! No MT types a steady 80 wpm for a whole
hour. It'll never happen. For one thing, you get the new dictation, perhaps
enter names, etc., maybe even start a new document if you do them separately.
Then you also sit and wait while they turn pages or hem and haw.
That's not even talking about the times we have to look up words or other
information.
An MT can very seldom go through a whole hour's worth of dictation without
having to hit that rewind button at least once to clarify something they
mumbled.
Some MTs can type 100 wpm or faster, and some have created lots of macros and
abbreviations to help speed up the work. It is these things that will help
get more work done in an hour. Oh! And also good clear dictation helps!
-----------------------------------------
Gail Hall in NE OH
Note: To reply privately, remove "void."
from the address.
-----------------------------------------
Gail M. Hall
On Sat, 24 Jan 1998 11:11:25 -0700, Vickie <vic...@erols.com> posted to
sci.med.transcription about "Re: average line count per hour?":
>Sam - $25.85 is not a bit high. I earn AT LEAST that and most of the
>time around $30/hr as a statutory employee. Might be high to the
>service owner who does not want to pay his employees anything.
>
Absolutely right, Vickie! These services forget that ICs and statutory
employees have EXPENSES, so they don't actually earn what they gross.
An employee working in-house WITH benefits may actually cost the hospital or
service more than the wages or salary paid to the MT because of the cost of
the benefits and equipment, etc.
If the client or service owner does not want to pay benefits, then they need
to pay the workers enough so they can get their own. If the client or
service owner does not want to furnish equipment and references, then they
should expect to pay the worker enough so they can get their own.
wendyle...@gmail.com
Bob
1040c4...@googlegroups.com>,
wendyle...@gmail.com says...
> Pay rate of .6 cpl. Good or not?
pretty much dead. I think everyone moved to
FaceBook.
Good luck,
Bob