A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Finding Own Clients PLEASE HELP - Michele

Posted: Oct 21, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Right now the company I work for hardly has any work. I am thinking about sending out a letter to local clinics and also maybe putting out an ad on craigslist for transcription work. Have you tried this? I have questions:

What things do I have to consider? How do I charge people (I know I can do line count in INstantText and figure out line count and cost)-is 10 CPL a good place to start? Are there other costs I need to factor in? How about taxes-do I have to add on tax to their invoice? Liability? Do I need a business license? This sounded so simple when I thought of it...

Help! Thank you

see message - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
As far as taxes, assume 30-40% will be going into a savings account to pay for estimated quarterlies. The pay per line is very variable depending on where you live and what kind of work you will be doing. Doing specialized work in an area with a high minimum wage would be more per line than say a primary care in a very rural place. I would send out letters without a price, then ask what their last transcriptoinist charged and go from there. If she was bad, then you can charge a little more, if they fired her because she charged too much, you might go a little lower. Also, you need to figure out how much you can type in a day and if it is worth your time after taxes, paying for your own insurance, any programs, foot pedals, etc, that you might need to purchase. Also, if you are picking up tapes, priting reports, doing other things than typing, you have to charge accordingly.
Check your state for licence requirements. In Oregon as long as you work out of your home with no employees you can use your SSN for your tax ID and don't need a licence.
There is a push from the AAMT for MTs to get liability insurance, malpractice insurance, but I personally think it's a bunch of BS. We are not liable, the doctors are, they sign their reports. And unless you have clients coming to your home you shouldn't need any other liability coverage.

I would send out the letters before you quit your job you have now, or you may end up having no work at all. I've heard that out of about 100 letters you will get 1 client, so keep that in mind, how many doctors officies are around you? Are you only going to limit yourself to within your town, county, state?

reply - michele

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm going to have trouble finding 100 places to send letters to. I was going to just submit letters locally, but maybe I should also have a website or something. I am most worried about doing it all legally, like with taxes and licenses, etc.

Hire help - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Hire a good CPA to help you with taxes, and consult them as soon as you start working so you can get the specifics on what you need to do for your area. Check online for your state and find out what their requirements are. You don't need to send out 100+ letters, just as many as you want to, that was just a number that was given to me, but your area might have a better doctor to MT ratio ;-)

Good advice below...sm - elaine

[ In Reply To ..]
The tax burden for the self-employed is substantial, so figure the math into your equation.

I agree particularly with the bit about insurance. I think it's BS, and it calls into question the integrity of the AAMT. Docs have to sign off on their dictations. You are liable for none of it. After your initials, type "dictated but not read" unless previously arranged with your client.

what I did - busybee

[ In Reply To ..]
I went and found a client on my own this past year and getting ready to look for another one or two. I did go ahead and get my LLC and set up a separate checking account (on the advice of my tax accountant) simply because I am thinking about trying to expand a little bit. I was already an independent contractor so I was already doing the taxes and such. I went ahead and drew up a "contract" to have ready and all I have to do is change the pertinent info tailored to the client. My client didn't have one, so I had to come up with one. Did LOTS of reading to make sure it worded right for HIPAA. While I was at it, I went ahead and made sure I had all my ducks-in-a-row in regards to HIPAA compliance. I now have a written policies and procedures manual

You'll need to look to see what your operating costs may be. How will you get/send your work and what will those costs be? I went up on my client because he decided that he preferred a call-in system rather than using a digital recorder (it's a $50 min charge for the call-in service for me and it would have cost me nothing for the digital recorder route).

I don't necessarily have a "set" figure to use for what I charge. It depends on several things, what the TAT will be, about how much volume, if it costs me money to get the work (such as using a call-in service), etc. I live way out and I'm not willing to pick up/drop off (it'd be too cost prohibitive to do otherwise) but if you're going to be dropping/picking up or even printing reports up, you need to figure those costs in (not to mention the time you spend transporting this stuff). My area is not a high cost of living, but I still would NOT do it for .10/line. In addition to the taxes, it costs me about $62 a month (minimum) just to have an ftp site and call-in service.

don't know on whether or not you need to add taxes on their invoicing. Good question for a tax accountant. Business license? don't know. I don't need one where I live.

Liability...I have an errors and omissions clause in my contract which basically says it is the doctor's responsibility for reading and making sure the content is correct. I do not have liability insurance and have no plans on getting it. Don't think I'm interested in working for anyone that requires it.

You just need to figure out about what your average line/hour is, about how much you will be working, deduct out your expenses and figure out how much you need to charge to make it worthwhile for you.

IMO, you need to talk to a tax accountant to figure out how much percentage wise you need to set aside for taxes. I find that I get a lot of great benefits for doing MT as an independent contractor. Due to my circumstances, my medical insurance premiums are basically taken off of my income. I use a lot of expenses, office supplies, internet, etc for deductions.

Good luck.

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