All Things Transcription

As a medical transcriptionist, you have two options in how you choose to work. You can obtain a job with a company as an employee or you can work as an independent contractor. Employee status is self explanatory. Just like any other job you work set hours, receive a paycheck with taxes withheld, and may have benefits available to you. As an independent contractor you have greater flexibility with your schedule, are responsible for your taxes, and will not be offered benefits by the company you contract for.

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Obviously there are benefits to each scenario. If one of the reasons you chose medical transcription is the option of working at home, the ability to set your own hours is a major plus. If you have young children at home, you want to be able to attend to their needs as they occur. As an independent contractor you can manage your time with this in mind and set your schedule according to their needs.

However, many transcriptionists overlook one of the major benefits of independent contracting; the ability to make more money. This applies to newbies as well as experienced transcriptionists. I hear more and more complaints from newbies about the MTSOs (Medical Transcription Service Organization) reluctance to hire a transcriptionist with less than 2 years experience. Independent contracting is a way to avoid this pitfall.

You will already be defined as an IC, so why not take it one step further and find your own account? It does take a bit more self confidence, but the benefits you receive will be worth it in the long run. You can make this effort in conjunction with your job search for an MTSO that will hire you, and I would be willing to bet that you might find something for yourself in just about the same amount of time it takes you to locate a job working for a large company.

The best way to obtain an account on your own is networking. Tell everyone you know that you are interested in finding local physicians that may need a transcriptionist. I do mean everyone. If you do not have any close friends that work in the medical field, I bet that someone you know does. If you make the effort to tell your friends, the word will spread and in the process someone who knows someone will hear about it. Tell everyone that even if the physician already has someone in house that transcribes for them, you would be happy to take overflow or fill in work.

Have simple business cards made that you can hand out to friends and family. You can obtain business cards that look professional and are very affordable. Spend as much money as you can afford on this. They do not have to be fancy, but they should be professional looking. I would advise against making your own unless you have the equipment at home to make good ones. Perforated business cards with a homemade look will not get you anywhere. These folks make nice looking cards at a very affordable price.

One small local account can earn you as much as you would make with an MTSO. It seems that the average wage for a newbie is .06 cpl (cents per line). If you process 800 lines per day it comes out like this:

.06 x 800 = $48.00

If you obtain your own account and charge the amount that is common to your area you can make much more. Let’s use the figure of .12 cpl. That works out to this amount:

.12 x 800 = $96.00

Wow! What a difference. Even if you receive less work from this account per week than you would from an MTSO, it will take much less time to make the same amount of money. This gives you the leeway to decide whether you want to take on another account and make even more or to be satisfied with the amount of money you are making with one account.

If you do find an office or clinic that is interested, offer to do a sample report or two for them. You do not need to offer to give them a resume at this point. If it progresses to the point that the physician wants to interview you, certainly have a skill set resume on hand in case the subject comes up. Do not offer one without it being requested. You are presenting yourself as a business owner offering a service, not as a newly graduated student looking for a job.

These small efforts may give you the opportunity to work at home for a far more reasonable wage than you would receive from an MTSO. It is less likely that you will find yourself in the position of scrambling for work. You will develop a personal relationship with both the physician and the office workers. This will make your job easier in the long run.

However, there is something that is missing in this equation that you need to consider before taking this step. There is no quality control for you to depend on before that office receives your work. If you believe that this puts too much stress on you as you are just starting out, this may not be the best way to go. You must be completely confident in both your transcribing and research skills to take this step of working on your own.

Ultimately, working a private account for yourself will earn you more money in less time while you still realize your dream of working at home. Self confidence and a little hard work will get you one in about the same amount of time that it takes to test for MTSOs and make some incredibly low wages. It is your decision.