Medical Transcription & Medical Billing at Home 1 - 2 - 3 How to Start a Medical Transcription At-Home Career As a medical transcriptionist, I do get asked several times a month, how I got started in this business. So many people nowadays want to work from home, especially mothers with young children. That's the primary reason I started my home business ten years ago, so I could be there for my daughter. I didn't want someone else taking care of her after school instead of me. It's really not hard to start a medical transcription business. The start-up costs are low compared to many other home-based businesses. You need a form of education, via home study courses or by attending your local community college. You do NOT need a degree in medical transcription to start a business either. In a short amount of time, usually nine months or less, you can be working from the comfort of your own home, just like me. You will need some equipment, such as a computer, a printer, a transcriber, and some reference books. All of which can be purchased second hand if need be. The latest and greatest equipment is not necessary to get started. Now, there are some special skills you will need, outside of the education, which include: Excellent grammar skills Good Listening Skills, Basic computer skills with a word processing program Research Skills Ability to type, your speed will increase with experience Must be detail oriented Ability to work on your own Ability to maintain work deadlines and be a self-motivator You will also need some computer programs such as a medical spellchecker and a word expander utility to cut down on the amount of actual typing you do. Some programs, such as Microsoft Word include this type of utility. It is the best invention by far, in my opinion. Basic bookkeeping is necessary, but not difficult. A good bookkeeper is great to have when it comes to taxes and advising you about saving money with tax deductions for your business. Medical transcription is usually paid by the amount of work transcribed. Therefore, it is quite normal to charge your clients by the line. If you charge 13 cents per line and type 200 lines per hour, (this is a very comfortable speed to type) your hourly rate would end up being about $26.00. Being self-employed does have some pitfalls. One must consider, as with any home based business, that once you become self-employed you are responsible for securing your own health insurance, and putting away money for retirement. However, there are many positive things about being self-employed, as I'm sure you can imagine. For me, what I love the most, is the flexibility I have with my time. If I want to work late in the day I can, and if I want to work early in the morning, that's up to me. Running a home-based medical transcription business is a lot of fun. Medical transcription is not for everyone, and it is important before venturing in to any business that you weigh up the pros and cons of it all and do what is best for your situation. About the Author: Michele Miller is a home-based business owner and medical transcriptionist who helps others start their own home based medical transcription companies. You can visit her website: http://www.medical-transcription-at-home.com Start Your Medical Transcription Business Today Learn from an expert in the field! Michele Miller knows how to make money at home as a medical transcriptionist (she's been doing it herself from home for over 14 years), and she has a step-by-step plan that can help you get started without constantly wondering if you're "doing the right things". Medical Billing for Beginners Paul Hackett has owned a Medical Billing Business for 8+ years and has helped many entrepreneurs get started with their own medical billing businesses - from home. As an Experience Medical billing Professional, Hackett shows you: Where to find contact information for new clients Which services you should be offering to prospective physicians (important!) What to say exactly to prospective physicians (and their staff) to get their business He also includes samples of contracts, fliers and other business forms that you'll need. Can you succeed this popular home-based business? Find out how >> Medical Billing from Home Medical Transcription and Medical Billing Resources How to Register a Business Name Get a Business License Open a Business Bank Account Small Business Financing Home Business Tax Deductions Free Business Cards Merchant Credit Card Account Individual Health Insurance Medical Billing Software Medical Dictionary cheap at Amazon Advice from the FTC American Medical Billing Association Business Forms Business Phone Systems Medical Coding Online Course Medical Coding & Billing Training Medical Transcriptionist Training Medical Transcription Jobs Medical Billing Jobs Medical Secretary Jobs How to Find Medical Transcription Clients A good way to find medical transcription clients is through medical transcription networking sites online, like www.mtdaily.com. You may also be able to land contract work through online job websites dedicated to medical transcriptionists, like www.mtjobs.com In addition, Small Business Marketing Expert David Frey has lots of unique and easy marketing ideas that you can use to (1) find more transcription clients, (2) keep those clients coming back to give you more business and (3) get those clients to effortlessly refer you more customers and do your marketing for you. Find out what I think is the Ultimate Resource for Small Business Marketing Medical Claims Processing: Operations Here's the Radio City Rockettes chorus line of chores, a sort of rapid-fire revue of a medical claims specialist's daily bump and grind: Enter your patient information, adding new insurance carriers to your database as you go along. Be sure you enter the referral source or referring physician as well as any other information you've agreed to track for your clients. Enter CPT and ICD-9 codes from the superbills (a charge slip that lists the services and procedures commonly performed by the provider and gives the patient's name, date of visit and any charges) and day sheets. Your software will automatically fill in the amounts charged for each procedure. Enter each charge on a separate line. Transmit electronic claims directly to insurance carriers or to the clearinghouse. Receive the audit report, review and correct errors on it, forward clean claims and resubmit rejected claims. Print any paper claims. Separate claims into your copy and the insurer's, fold and insert in envelopes. Weigh any envelopes containing more than five claims to make sure you have sufficient postage. Post payments to each patient's account. Most software programs include features that show which charges have been paid, how much is left on each charge and which charges are still unpaid. Print aging reports so you can review each patient's account to determine which ones haven't been paid in a timely manner. Most software packages will do this for you, too. Call insurance carriers to check on the status of delinquent claims. Most of your follow-up calls will be for paper claims. Put your feet up and relax. You've earned a breather. Location One of the great perks of running a medical billing service is that it lends itself ideally to the homebased entrepreneur. It's convenient: you couldn't get any closer to your office unless you slept with your computer. It's economical: you don't need to spend money on leased space, extra utilities, transportation costs or lunches down at the corner grill. It doesn't require a high-traffic or high-visibility location and doesn't need to be in the trendy part of town or in an industrial complex, although those are certainly options. You don't need a mahogany-paneled office with a lobby and conference room to impress or entertain clients. The only space requirement is an area large enough for your desk, your chair, a few filing cabinets and perhaps a bookshelf. Working at home, however, is not mandatory. You may want to leave your laundry, your dog and/or your kids/spouse at home while you go off to an office space that's nice, quiet, clean and yours alone. The contents of this Start-Up Kit are excerpted from Medical Claims Billing Service Business Startup Guide an Entrepreneur Start-Up Guide More Medical Transcription & Billing Resources: Transcriptionist's Networking Center Medical Transcription News Group Medical Transcription Desk Weekly Medical Transcription Jobs Medical Billing Jobs © 1997- Home Business Center.com privacy policy