As a medical transcriptionist, I do get asked several times a
month, how I got started in this business. So many people
nowadays want to work from home, especially mothers with young
children. That’s the primary reason I started my home business
ten years ago, so I could be there for my daughter. I didn’t
want someone else taking care of her after school instead of me.
It’s really not hard to start a medical transcription business.
The start-up costs are low compared to many other home-based
businesses.
You need a form of education, via home study courses or by
attending your local community college. You do NOT need a degree
in medical transcription to start a business either. In a short
amount of time, usually nine months or less, you can be working
from the comfort of your own home, just like me.
You will need some equipment, such as a computer, a printer, a
transcriber, and some reference books. All of which can be
purchased second hand if need be. The latest and greatest
equipment is not necessary to get started.
Now, there are some special skills you will need, outside of the
education, which include:
* Excellent grammar skills
* Good Listening Skills,
* Basic computer skills with a word processing program
* Research Skills
* Ability to type – your speed will increase with experience
* Must be detail oriented
* Ability to work on your own
* Ability to maintain work deadlines and be a self-motivator You
will also need some computer programs such as a medical
spellchecker and a word expander utility to cut down on the
amount of actual typing you do. Some programs, such as Microsoft
Word® include this type of utility. It is the best invention by
far, in my opinion.
Basic bookkeeping is necessary, but not difficult. A good
bookkeeper is great to have when it comes to taxes and advising
you about saving money with tax deductions for your business.
Medical transcription is usually paid by the amount of work
transcribed. Therefore, it is quite normal to charge your
clients by the line. If you charge 13 cents per line and type
200 lines per hour, (this is a very comfortable speed to type)
your hourly rate would end up being about $26.00.
Being self-employed does have some pitfalls. One must consider,
as with any home based business, that once you become
self-employed you are responsible for securing your own health
insurance, and putting away money for retirement.
However, there are many positive things about being
self-employed, as I’m sure you can imagine. For me, what I love
the most, is the flexibility I have with my time. If I want to
work late in the day I can, and if I want to work early in the
morning, that’s up to me. Running a home-based medical
transcription business is a lot of fun.
Medical transcription is not for everyone, and it is important
before venturing in to any business that you weigh up the pros
and cons of it all and do what is best for your situation.
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