An Insider’s Take on Medical Transcription Wages: Get Paid What You Deserve!
Since transcriptionist jobs give you the chance to work from home at your own speed, and as much as you like, the amount of medical transcriptionist salary you can make is limitless. There is a lot to know about transcription wages. The first thing to pay attention to is what type of transcriptionist jobs you quality for because not everyone is eligible for the jobs that pay the highest medical transcriptionist salary.
The reason this is the case is because of lack of training and experience. Most people dive into this career thinking that they can apply without experience and make thousands per month. Medical transcription is a medical profession, and it requires a lot of understanding and skill before you can get started. Those medical reports are nothing to joke around with. If you want to be provided the opportunity to make higher medical transcription wages, some effort regarding your skill is needed.
Receiving a quality education from an accredited online transcription college is your first step toward better transcriptionist jobs. People who choose not to take advantage of achieving a certification or diploma in transcription are less likely to find employment. It is important to take into account that not every transcription college is legitimate. Prior to submitting your application, be sure that you research your school of choice to make sure it actually exists and is accredited. To check for accreditation, go to both chea.org and ahdionline.org. Schools accredited by the AHDI are recognized by online employers, as well as doctors’ offices and hospitals.
There are generally two types of employment involved in transcription work. The first type involves working for an online company. The advantages of working for a company include not having to edit your own work, not having to pick up and drop of dictation and medical reports, and also not having to draft and sign contracts. The disadvantages to these types of transcriptionist jobs include strict deadlines and lower transcription wages.
For these reasons, many people choose to go into business for themselves. To do this, the transcriptionist must find a client or number of clients who need help with their medical reports. Once you are hired by a specific client or clients (doctors), a contract is created that states the terms by which the work will be completed. The contract will include turnaround times, an agreement on how and when the dictation will be picked up and turned back in, pay rates, and payment dates. The advantages to these types of transcriptionist jobs include the ability to create your own transcription wages and making most of the decisions about pick-up and delivery times. The disadvantages include editing your own work, driving to and from the medical office for pick-up and delivery, creating contracts, and from time to time, having to find more clients. You are literally on your own, but it’s not that bad. If you’re more interested in increasing your skill level, making higher transcription wages, and spending more time involved in your work, then going out on your own is a preferred method.
But either way, you will be a success. Transcriptionist jobs are usually just as difficult to find whether you’re working for yourself, or looking to become an employee. Differences in pay are however, very obvious. Someone who works for a company will typically start out making .06 cents per line.
On average, a beginner types about 50 lines per hour, and by “beginner”, we mean the first couple of weeks. If .06 cents per line is all that is being earned, and they work about five hours per day, they are only going to make $3.00 per hour. Once they speed up to 100 lines per hour, the pay increases to $6.00 per hour. Higher transcription wages come much easier with experience. The same person who works for herself and charges .14 cents per line will make $7.00 per hour when typing 50 lines. Likewise, when their speed picks up to 100 lines per hour, the pay increases to $14.00 per hour.
It is vital that you know what type of transcriptionist jobs you are interested in. Most people prefer to work for a company to gain experience, but either way, you’re still doing basically the same thing. It’s all about what makes you the most comfortable. If you feel like you would save more time working as an employee, then that may be your best bet. As an independent contractor, you can always adjust your rates and hire someone to edit your work for you if you prefer. There are so many options when it comes to achieving success, but the key is to make sure that you are getting paid for what you are worth.
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Susan Eliot
Author Susan B. Eliot is a wonderful resource in this field and is the authority when it comes to earning the highest medical transcriptionist salary. She owns and manages her own transcription business and knows first hand what goes into making the medical transcription wages you are worth.