I’m a medical transcriptionist as my day job, though I enjoy my crafting business on the side. But right now we need the bills paid on a reliable basis, so transcription it is. From time to time people realize I work from home and ask me what I do, and can they too? Sure, I believe that almost everyone can do medical transcription from home if they want to. Here are some frequently asked questions.
Sure, but if you want to work from home you really need to go to a widely recognized school so that companies know that you are qualified. It costs companies money to train people, and there are so many mommas who want to work from home that if they were to train everyone that wanted to, they could not make money. There are three big medical transcription schools on the net. I went to M-Tec and there is also Andrew’s and Career Step. I chose M-Tec because they had very informative public fourms, the directors were nice, and they offered student loans.
That looks good, but how long will it take me to get through school?
It took me 9 months for the Tier 1 program. During most of that I was working 30 hours a week, studying after work and on my lunch breaks. I didn’t have any children at that time, and I already had a background in medical (worked as a nurse’s aid, associates degree in nursing). If I hadn’t had a medical background, I think it would have taken me at least a year, maybe a little more. There is a lot of terminology to learn.
When I started, I typed about 35 wpm. Now I type over 70. It comes with time, and your success is more determined on your ability to stay with a task and be open to learning new things.
Are there many jobs? I’ve heard they’re all outsourced to India. What about voice recognition?
There seems to be a ton of jobs. I got hired for my first job before I even graduated, and in the 3 years since then my job needs have changed two more times and I’ve been able to find a job that suited my needs within a couple weeks of starting to look. As for the outsourcing, that is a hot topic. Yes, plenty of doctors do outsource to other countries and use voice recognition, but real live American MTs are still in great demand. The quality of work that comes from voice recognition is fairly poor, and while some Indian MTs do have excellent quality of work, many rush through the job and produce a poor document that is either inaccurate or needs major grammatical editing, or both. MTs who care about their work are a great time-saving asset to a doctor. We edit their grammar to make them sound smarter and verify details within the report to make sure they are correct, like checking doses and updating abbreviations to JACHO standards, which could avoid costly fines for the doctors and fatal medication mistakes for the patients.
Can I work part time? Do I get benefits? Can I just do this to earn some extra money in my spare time?
There are all sorts of jobs for medical transcription. I have worked as an employee with benefits, worked full time as an independent contractor, and currently I am working part time as an independent contractor. As your needs change, there are many different opportunities available.
As far as doing this in your spare time, that does not really work. Transcription service owners depend on having reliable transcriptionists to meet the rigid turn around times required in the medical profession. You do need to pick hours that you can dedicate to medical transcription and stick to your schedule.
Can I do this while I’m home with my kids?
I suggest having a set time where you will have minimal interruptions to complete your work. I do this while I am home with my baby, but I only work while she is sleeping or Daddy is on duty. Some people do all their work while their kids sleep at night, some put their children in daycare for the hours that they work, and some have very self-sufficient children who can play quietly nearby and not disrupt them while they are working. It really depends on your family situation as to what will work for you.
How much does it pay?
Oh, the nitty gritty. It really depends on what accounts you work on, what hours you work, and how much you are willing to be dedicated to your job. The work is paid on production, by a 65-character line. I’ve seen pay anywhere from 5 cents per line (cpl) to 20 cpl, which can average from $3/hour to $25/hour+. The most profitable way to do transcription is to work directly with the doctor. These transcriptionists don’t have a middle man and do all the work themselves. I don’t do this, I want to be able to take a vacation and I don’t really have what it takes to be a business owner in this setting. Acute care (hospital setting) transcription pays more than clinic work, there are more doctors, there are more complicated procedures, and the hours often require nights and weekends. Clinic transcription pays the least, but still can pay the bills just fine. This is what I do. I love that I work for the same group of doctors, so I get to know their voices, phrases, and common medications. They work normal business hours M-F and so do I.
Starting out most people (myself included) are so slow that they only average about $3/hour. If you are an employee, your employer is required by law to pay you minimum wage until you get up to making more than that on a production basis. For my first job it took me about 8 weeks to get up to where I was making an okay hourly rate, and then for my next 2 it only took about 2 weeks.
