Start A Medical Transcription At Home Career!
By Michele Miller, Thu Dec 8th
As a medical transcriptionist, I do get asked several times amonth, how I got started in this business. So many peoplenowadays want to work from home, especially mothers with youngchildren. That’s the primary reason I started my home businessten years ago, so I could be there for my daughter. I didn’twant 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-basedbusinesses.
You need a form of education, via home study courses or byattending your local community college. You do NOT need a degreein medical transcription to start a business either. In a shortamount of time, usually nine months or less, you can be workingfrom the comfort of your own home, just like me.
You will need some equipment, such as a computer, a printer, atranscriber, and some reference books. All of which can bepurchased second hand if need be. The latest and greatestequipment is not necessary to get started.
Now, there are some special skills you will need, outside of theeducation, 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 Youwill also need some computer programs such as a medicalspellchecker and a word expander utility to cut down on theamount of actual typing you do. Some programs, such as MicrosoftWord® include this type of utility. It is the best invention byfar, in my opinion.
Basic bookkeeping is necessary, but not difficult. A goodbookkeeper is great to have when it comes to taxes and advisingyou about saving money with tax deductions for your business.
Medical transcription is usually paid by the amount of worktranscribed. Therefore, it is quite normal to charge yourclients by the line. If you charge 13 cents per line and type200 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 becomeself-employed you are responsible for securing your own healthinsurance, and putting away money for retirement.
However, there are many positive things about beingself-employed, as I’m sure you can imagine. For me, what I lovethe most, is the flexibility I have with my time. If I want towork late in the day I can, and if I want to work early in themorning, that’s up to me. Running a home-based medicaltranscription business is a lot of fun.
Medical transcription is not for everyone, and it is importantbefore venturing in to any business that you weigh up the prosand cons of it all and do what is best for your situation.
About the author:Michele Miller is a home-based business owner and author of anEbook about starting a medical transcription business.www.medical-transcription-at-home.com
