If you like the idea of being your own boss and would like to start your own business that allows you to call all of the shots, then you should consider starting a medical transcription business.
Medical transcription business is one investment you would like to dabble into. This is because of its high level of profitability. Medical transcription is a convenient flexible career that lends itself to working independently from home.
Yes, you can even work from home doing medical transcription jobs. It also presents a good opportunity for you join the growing healthcare industry as a small business owner. This article explains the basics of the medical transcription business as well as how to start the business as an independent contractor.
What is Medical Transcription?
Medical transcription is the conversion of taped medical reports and records into written documents. Simply put; a medical transcriptionist takes recorded medical notes and twists them into documents as an addendum to a patient’s medical record. There is loads of benefit for a medical transcriptionist.
Doctors and other healthcare professionals find it much easier to record patient health reports on digital devices than to write. However, these taped reports and cannot be added to patient’s medical records unless they are in print. So, medical transcriptionists handle the important task of listening to the recordings and transcribing them into text form.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) the medical transcription profession is expected to grow by 11 percent between 2008 and 2018, which means there is increasing demand for medical transcription services. Busy hospitals and medical practices hire freelance medical transcriptionists to handle overflow work. So, there’s a huge market to cater to.
Starting a Medical Transcription Company – Sample Business Plan Template
If you are a transcriptionist and you have the ambition of starting your own business or peradventure you are looking to become a medical transcriptionist someday and are also looking to own a business in this regard, then you may consider looking at the winning tips on how to go about things.
There are a good number of people who have started this business, and it can be said that they are doing well for themselves. So, if all you want is how to start your own medical transcription business, then here goes…
1. Research
The need to research to get a good deal of vital information that would do your business a whole lot of good cannot be watered down. It is one important practice that you have got to take seriously always. Therefore, it becomes important that you read up a lot on the medical transcription business. The internet is a good place to get this information right. You may also want to consider reading books to pull things off.
2. Develop a Business Plan
This is where an expert comes in. You would need one who has the wherewithal to put things in a professional perspective. You need some vital information like how much you want to start the business with, how many employees you want tom have , as well as some short term and long term goal.
3. Get Trained
Getting a first- hand training is very pertinent here. It is for that reason that you may want to work in a hospital or doctor’s office to garner understanding. You can rest assured that after working a job or more, you will gain ample insight that will help push your business to from the scratch to the very plateau.
4. Do Some Certificate Exams
It is imperative that you get licensed and one of the ways to do this is to get certified through exams. You may consider enrolling in a medical transcription training program. This is available online, as well as on some campuses. Although, it isn’t mandatory to write exams; it is highly suggested you do.
5. Get experience
Although your plan is to work as an independent contractor, you will need to gain some experience. And most of the time, this will require working in a hospital or doctor’s office setting. Without the necessary experience, you may find it hard to attract clients. After working with a doctor for some time, you can then proceed to work from the comfort of your home.
6. Obtain your license
Your first step towards becoming a medical transcriptionist is to obtain your license because you cannot work without one. To obtain the license, you will need to enroll in a certified training program for medical transcriptionists. Many of these programs are available online, and some run for just a couple of weeks.
Though you don’t need more than your license to work as a medical transcriptionist, going the extra mile of bagging certification is highly recommended, since this will give you an edge over others. Aside a license, there may be other requirements depending on your location. You must find out about the other requirements that may apply on your state or country.
7. Register Your Business
It is very vital at this stage that you set up your business name, as we’ll as register it. This is so that you do not limit yourself to doing business only to a selected few. As such, you have got to go to the chamber of commerce authority, or the corporate affairs commission to set things off. You would be given several forms to complete. Be sure to complete these forms well so that you do not run into a hitch.
8. Set up your office
Since you will be working from home, you will need to set up a home office; one that is decent, comfortable, and free of distractions.
Most preferably, your home office should be a separate room in your home. You sure don’t want your family to disturb when you are at work. And you don’t want them to listen to the patient’s medical reports, which are to be kept confidential.
You will also need to invest in the necessary equipment, such as a desk and chair, a filing cabinet, a PC, a laser printer, a fax machine, line-counting software, reference books, and so on.
9. Procure Equipment
Now that things are looking up, then it is now time to purchase all that you need to furnish your hospital with. You would need the following; a phone line, accounting software, filing cabinet, line counting software, fax machine, laser printer, amongst others. Be sure that you get a good supplier who can give you the best deals.
10. Recruit Your Team Mates
At this juncture, you would need to hire your team members. You may consider starting with subcontractors and later moving on to other permanent workers. One of the good ways to save cost may be through hiring contract employees. On the other hand if you are looking to get quality, then you can consider sticking to hiring permanent workers at once.
11. Start marketing
Once you have set up your home office and put everything else in place, it’s time to start hunting for clients. Before you start marketing, you will need to set your rates based on what applies in your location.
You can print business cards and other marketing materials, and approach doctors and hospitals around you. Tell them about your medical transcription services. This cold-calling strategy is very effective. So, you will need to be more of a sales person before you get to attract clients. The more professional your business looks, and the more your experience, the higher your chances of landing clients quickly.
12. Don’t stop
Because there’s no guarantee that you will continue to get repeat assignments from a single client, it’s safer to have many clients. This means you should never stop hunting for new clients even after you have gotten a good number of them. Only when you start getting more tasks than you can handle should you stop the hunt.
13. Stay creative-: Creativity is one of the roots of being successful in this line of business. So, you have to constantly work at being the best at what you do always. Read books, and do not be far from your competitors.
14. Seek Out New Ways to Be Better
Even after all has started to function well, you must still continue to seek out ways to run your medical transcription business better. Do not stop reading a lot, as well as networking with those that matter in the industry.
15. Outsource
As you continue to attract more clients, chances are that you will no longer be able to handle all their projects single-handedly. So, you will need to take on subcontractors to handle part of your workload. However, you must bear in mind that this might mean a transition from your transcribing role to one that involves managing and supervising.
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