I am a new transcriptionist living in Central NJ and am trying figure out what to charge. I currently work in hospital, although not as a transcriptionist, but have the medical background. A surgeon friend of my father's asked me to help him out with his transcription and now I love it. This could be my opportunity to have more flexibility with my kids. Since I had never done it, he set the rate (3.50 per page), but I'm trying to get an idea what to charge for other accounts. I am trying to get a few more so that I can leave my job at the hospital.

Hi A McCoy!

The majority of transcriptionists charge by the line, and the definition of a line is spelled out to the client. Depending on how your doc dictates, you could really be shorting yourself if you charge by the page.

Fifteen years ago most MTs charged by the gross line, i.e., if the date was on a line, you got the line rate. That was before there was line-counting software. Now most charge by a character-specified line, i.e., a line equals 65 or 70 or 55 characters. That could or could not include formatting codes like bolding, underlining, etc., and also needs to be disclosed to the client.

Also, if you are not an employee (i.e., you are paying your own taxes and they are not supplying equipment or an office, among other things), then YOU set the price. You wouldn't call a plumber and after he got done tell him how much you were going to pay him, would you? Same thing here.

I would suggest that you contact your local AAMT chapter (aamt.org and look under the state chapters section) for more specific advice. They can tell you what the going rate is in your area (probably not charging by the page) and other invaluable advice. You will also get great advice on must-have references for transcription also.

You can always come here and ask also, but you might get more specific advice there, especially with rates.

Hope this was helpful!