If you’re one of the many individuals that are interested in a medical transcriptionist job, you might also be thinking of the medical transcriptionist salary you might earn. You should understand now that you can definitely earn a high medical transcriptionist salary, especially if you’re being paid by the number of lines you can transcribe in a single day. However, before you dream of earning seemingly-unlimited income, you should first have the skills and training to work fast but accurately in transcribing the recorded dictations of those physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Medical transcriptionist salary can be calculated in a number of ways. Most medical transcription companies, hospitals, and physicians pay their medical transcriptionists by the number of lines they can transcribe. Normally, these documents produced are one to two pages long and you’ll be paid anywhere from $0.07 to $0.13 per line that you can type. The pay range is determined by your level of experience and the quality of work you can produce. Your total medical transcriptionist salary, when based on the number of lines you can type, is determined also by the type of job and the turn-around time for the job to be completed. An example of the type of job that pays higher medical transcriptionist salary than the average is radiology-related transcription, which has a fast turn-around time (usually within 24 to 48 hours).
Some employers prefer to pay a medical transcriptionist salary based on the number of hours the transcriptionists have worked in a given day. Most medical transcriptionists work 40-hour weeks, while those that are self-employed are more likely to work irregular hours, depending on their free time or work schedule preference. There are also employers that pay a medical transcriptionist salary based on a combination of the other two types of payment, with base-pay per hour plus additional incentives for extra work done.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wages report for medical transcriptionists, released in May 2009, the mean annual medical transcriptionist salary in the U.S. is $33,350. The mean annual medical transcriptionist salary for those working in hospitals is $34,480 while those working at physician offices earn $32,410 annually. Business Support Services, on the other hand, pay $31,040 in mean annual salary.
The industries paying the highest medical transcriptionist salary are medical and diagnostic laboratories, insurance carriers, scientific research and development services, management, scientific and technical consulting services, and dentists’ offices.
Popular employers of medical transcriptionists, like Medquist Incorporated, pay $10.50 to $15 an hour. St. Joseph’s Medical Center pays $10.70 to $16.70 while Quest Diagnostics pays $12.47 to 19.43 an hour. When it comes to gender, 98% of medical transcriptionists are women and 32% of transcriptionists have 10-19 years of experience working as a medical transcriptionist, followed by 24% with 20 or more years of experience, and 22% with one to four years of experience as a medical transcriptionist.
In order to receive a higher salary as a medical transcriptionist, you need to undergo further education and training to help you develop a higher quality and quantity of work. Completion of a 2-year associate’s degree or a 1-year certificate program on medical transcribing is also highly recommended. It’s no secret that employers prefer hiring those individuals with better qualifications than other applicants, and finishing this formal training and further education will give you that competitive edge over other hopeful employees.
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