Medical Transcription Salary – How Much Do Medical Transcriptionists Make?

Starting Salaries

You’re ready, with certificate or degree in hand to land that perfect MT job. If you’ve done your homework, you know that most entry level MTs do not make the medical transcriptionist’s salary of someone who has been working for several years, either with the same company or an in-home business. Most entry-level MTs can make anywhere from $9 to $12 an hour. Be realistic about your skill set but don’t undersell yourself, either. Ask the counselors at the school or the training website’s support team – they will help you as you make the transition into the job force.

Increase Your Salary with a Degree

If you want to make MT your career, a certificate or a degree in MT (if you don’t have experience in MT and even if you do) may make the difference on whether the company or medical professional hire you or not. Degree and certificate holder also earner higher salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Wage-and-salary medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $14.40 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $12.17 and $17.06. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $10.22, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $20.15.

Top Medical Transcription Schools

US Career InstituteUS Career Institute – Work at home transcribing medical reports dictated by doctors. Since every procedure requires a report, there’s great demand for qualified medical transcriptionists.

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DeVry University Online

DeVry University – DeVry’s Health Information Technology program prepares graduates to work with applications systems and manage electronic health information databases.

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University of Phoenix

University of Phoenix – The Associate of Arts in Health Care Administration with a focus on Medical Record covers important medical transcription topics, including medical terminology related to disease diagnosis and treatment, patient information management and medical claims processing.

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Landing Your First Medical Transcription Job

Since the MT salary is dependent on whether you work for a company or if you are an independent contractor, you must keep certain crucial things in mind. First of all, if you are working full-time for a company, you will be making full benefits. The stay-at-home transcriptionists in most cases, since they are part-time employees, do not enjoy the luxury of these benefits. Whether the recession is still in full force or it is in the process of waning, the medical transcriptionist’s salary is mostly dependent upon your willingness to further your education.

Asking the right questions at an interview is a sure way to display your interest in the medical transcription industry. However, don’t make the common mistake of asking about salary as soon as you’re being interviewed. The interviewer doesn’t care that you have five mouths to feed and that you’ve been hardly making the grade even on government assistance. They have a full schedule of interviewees – so their compassion for your financial situation is in short supply.

Be aware that you won’t be making $9 an hour forever. If you consistently churn out good work and show the companies or your health professional that you are still willing to learn new technology and jargon, they will be willing to think more of you than the other MT who is only just doing their job. Advances and bonuses for a medical transcriptionist’s salary, just as any other career’s salary are not only dependent upon your work but your willingness to learn more in the industry. Once the human resource department notices you and your motivation to go the extra mile, you are almost guaranteed that your superiors (unless told otherwise) will make recommendations to the human resource department.