Medical Transcription Rates: Why Pricing Yourself Competitively is so Important

Transcriptionist work allows for several different types of pay and also provides many choices when it comes to choosing how one prefers to work. Most people choose to work for companies either online or in their local areas as employees simply because it’s much easier than dealing with contracts and going out and locating clients. Working for a company usually pays hourly and by the line. Working in-office as an employee also can pay by the line or hourly. Perhaps the most lucrative way to work is by charging your own transcription rates as an independent contractor.

There are plenty of people who start off as independent contractors directly after they graduate from their training program. People choose to work as independent contractors because there is more freedom involved, as well as more money. The potential for earning more money is the same as someone who works for a company, the only difference is that you charge your own transcription rates. You still have to work on your production either way.

One mistake that is made by quite a few people who specialize in transcriptionist work is charging too much or too little. As an independent contractor, it is important that you price your rates in a very competitive fashion. It helps to know what the going rates are in your area so that you don’t over or undercharge. You can find out by calling doctor’s offices and asking what they are charged by their transcriptionists. Try calling about 5-10 doctor’s offices so that you can come up with a competitive rate.

Let’s say that you had always planned on charging .15 cents per line from the very beginning. You go out and talk to various doctors about providing transcriptionist work services to them. When it comes down to creating the contract, your doctor rejects you because of your high rate. Come to find out, the going rate in your area is .13 cents per line, which is considerably low in your opinion. The doctor suggests a lower rate, and you turn it down. Will it still be worth it? Definitely, because after working for him for a couple of years, you can suggest much higher transcription rates. As your doctor gets used to your transcriptionist work skills and abilities, he is likely to pay you more.

You see, the beauty of charging realistic and competitive rates is that once you’re in with a client, that’s it. You can basically just take it from there! If the going rates in your area are .12 per line, then try charging .12 or .13, maybe even .11 at first (especially if you’re low on experience). In time, you can charge as much as .21 cents per line if you and your doctor can agree! Going up on your transcriptionist work rates is completely worth the time it takes to wait it out.