Medical Transcription Salaries

As we said earlier, there is no standard rate for a medical transcription salary. It can be difficult making an estimation of the average medical transcriptionist's earnings because one person's salary will differ widely from the next. An educated guess is about the best you can do. In order to do this, we look at the average starting wage and then expected maximum earnings for a medical transcriptionist. Data from the United States Department of Labor from May 2006 reveals average earnings for a medical transcriptionist range between $10 to $20 an hour. Based on this you have a general idea of how much a typical medical transcriptionist's income should be.

There are many, many factors affecting medical transcription salaries. First and foremost is the skill level of the individual. Of course, the most experienced transcriptionists command higher salaries than those with less experience. Training is another factor that affects medical transcription salaries, though this is not as important as experience. Some companies and institutions prefer medical transcriptionists who are graduates of a formal medical transcription school or a community college or trade school, and will pay higher salaries to them compared to a medical transcriptionist who has no formal training.

Payment methods for medical transcription salaries vary as widely as does the amount earned. Some transcriptionists receive compensation based on the number of lines they transcribe per hour or per day. There are also those who are paid hourly regardless of how much work they transcribe, and some are even paid by the minute of dictation they transcribe per hour or day. So you can see you really must educate yourself regarding the different rates of pay and methods of payment in regard to medical transcription salaries, and then choose the one which will work best for you before accepting a position.

Among those who earn high medical transcription salaries is the transcriptionist who works from home. This may be either with your own business or as a subcontractor for another company. One advantage of having your own business is that your income potential really is unlimited. However, just like with any business, running a medical transcription business can be quite a challenge. With your own business you must market your services and obtain all of your clients yourself. This is opposed to having work ready and available to you as an employee or subcontractor.

Independent contractors who work as subcontractors have work provided to them, but there is no guarantee of work or income. This is completely opposite from transcriptionists who are employees and receive regular paychecks as part of their medical transcription salaries. The workload with home-based medical transcription is also inconsistent. There will be times when you have more work than you can possibly handle, and still other times when you may have little or no work available. As an independent contractor, or self-employed transcriptionist, if you do not work you do not get paid. This can be a genuine concern when researching medical transcription salaries and compensation.

The way in which your medical transcription salary is computed can vary widely as well. Some medical transcriptionists are paid by the hour regardless of the amount of work they do. Still others will get paid based on the number of lines or even minutes of dictation they transcribe per day. You must consider the advantages and disadvantages of the ways in which your salary is tabulated in order to make employment decisions accordingly.

As noted above, a medical transcription salary will depend most greatly on the skill and experience level of the transcriptionist. Someone who works quickly and is willing to put in longer hours will be able to earn a much larger income than their peers. In the long run, an experienced, highly skilled and motivated medical transcriptionist who works full time can expect to earn $50,000 or more per year.

The medical transcription salary should not be judged only by the amount you receive on payday. When compared with many other professions, the medical transcriptionist enjoys much more flexibility in scheduling and in other areas as well. That can be worth just as much, perhaps more, than the income earned.

With the unlimited potential in medical transcription salaries available, the medical transcription field offers real opportunities for motivated individuals to just about write their own paychecks.