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Help! What should I charge? - hawkMT
Posted: May 14, 2013
I have an opportunity to work with a local, successful Midwestern 6-physician ENT practice. They want to know what I charge per line. I'm currently with a larger MTSO and have been for years.
Back in the good old days I could charge my own clients by the gross line, 15, 17, 18 cents. But those days are gone. I don't want to lose the ENT group to an MTSO or other middleman. What is a fair rate for transcription (with no delivery or printing) these days? Thanks!
I would probably go with 10 a line? - no expert though
[ In Reply To ..]x
I don't know the answer I just wanted to wish you good luck and I hope you get it. - schnauzermom
[ In Reply To ..]nm
What to charge - MT
[ In Reply To ..]Actually, this is what I do. When I talk with a prospective client, I ask them what they have been paying and/or what they feel is a fair rate. There are two reasons for this: 1) You don't want to say 10 cpl if they are willing to pay 15 cpl because then you cut yourself short. 2) If they get to somewhat choose or negotiate their own rate, they feel as if they are getting a fair price and don't feel like they need to "cut costs" so to speak because they chose what they were spending. I always tell prospective clients to give ME a number and I will let them know if I can work for that amount. This way, you don't lose out on money they would have been wiling to pay and also makes them feel as if they are in charge of it if you feel the rate is fair. If the rate is too low, then you can negotiate a little higher price and if they want you bad enough, they will agree to it.
Thanks.....but - hawkMT
[ In Reply To ..]Great advice. I had actually thought of that already. But their previous MT had been salaried and I will be an IC and they asked me for a line quote. I just didn't want to price myself out of the market. I am thinking of 13 cpl. I think that is reasonable (and your "10 and 15" reference makes me think that's about right). Thanks!
See if you are able to find out... - MT
[ In Reply To ..]how much the salaried person made. That way you could figure it out per hour, knowing on average what you can do an hour to figure out what your cpl would have to be. You don't want to lose out on the job by charging too much, and don't want to end up making too little. Either that, ask them if they have an estimate of about how much work they do per month.
Billing clients - 2bz2sleep
[ In Reply To ..]First of all, will you have to provide your own dictation system? Do they want you on a platform? Will you have to provide recorders?
Call-in dictation is extremely expensive, although easier with just 6 physicians, as you can lease lines sometimes cheaper than purchasing your own system and all the phone lines, etc., that go with it. Depending on this, I would either charge 12-14 cpl at 60 cpl for call-in and 11-12 cpl if not at the very lowest.
I live in one of the most expensive areas in the US, but the clients seem to want to pay the lowest. I lose them if I try charge 13-14 cpl.
Congrats!
hawkMT - Old Pro
[ In Reply To ..]I would make my initial offer 12 cpl and if they balked, would drop it to 11.
Help! What should I charge? - hawkMT - larryeb
[ In Reply To ..]I was charging $.10/L then went to $.15 recently. Had only one hesitation, others were okay with it. Depends on the quality of work they are willing to pay for. Hope this helps you.
Going rate in Midwest is 14-15 cents/line. - mwmt
[ In Reply To ..]
You can't worry about what MTs are being paid. You need to know ahead of time what you are charging, not ask the client what they're willing to pay. What if they say Zero!
$0.10 a line works only if you're charging a gross line.
The going rate in midwest is 14-15 cents per line on a 65 character line. I wouldn't budge on that, why on earth would you consider anything lower. It's not worth it in the long run to put in the time it takes to manage even a small service and not so as well as you can. If you underbid/undercut yourself you will devalue yourself in front of your prosepctive client. Be firm and provide value versus price. Most practices don't know what counting per line is. Explain they can verify it in the Word Count feature in Word. Be strong and go for it. If nothing else, offer a 15 day trial so then invoice them so they can see what you can produce and how much it will cost them. It's your business at this point, stand up for yourself and quote a price. Period.
Even if you think you can't charge much, you must though. Expenses for doing this work have increased exponentially and you will lose money if you don't charge enough. Everything on earth has increased in price except pay for this kind of work.
If you're fortunate enough to get a nice account for yourself, I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to quote a profitable rate.
You need to know ahead of time what you are charging, not ask the client what they're willing to pay. You can't apologize for quoting a fair price and sticking with it.
The going rate in the midwest is 14-15 cents per line on a 65 character line. I wouldn't budge on that, why on earth would you consider anything lower. It's not worth it in the long run for what you will put into taking on this work and the "unpaid" hours you will spend managing everything.
Sorry, but $0.10 (or even 12 cents a line) a line works only if you're charging a gross line. Otherwise, you're working for about $8 or less an hour. And you need to have a margin if you're going to hire ICs to work with you. And one other thing, it's extremely difficult to raise your rate if you start out too low.
If you underbid/undercut yourself you will devalue yourself in front of your prosepctive client. Be firm and provide value and great service versus price.
Be strong and go for it. If nothing else, offer a 15 day trial so then invoice them so they can see what you can produce and how much it will cost them, then go from there. It's your business at this point, stand up for yourself and quote profitable rate. Best of sucess to you.
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