You only have to report earnings over $300 on a 1099 form.

• Does anyone pay someone to clean their house? sm - Happy camper
  • Yes and lover her to death! - sm
  • cleaning house - donna
  • $62.50/every two weeks gets me top-to-bottom scrubs of three bathrooms, polishing of - sm - WI MT
  • Yes....$50 per week...details inside..SM - Indiana MT
    • "Ethical" pay for my cleaning lady...sm - Indiana MT
      • I am surprised you are surprised it went downhill.. - its the MO here.. n/m
    • Would you do all that work for 12.50 an hour? - Pay good? LOL
    • And we all think our pay stinks -- nm - Pj
    • How do you find such a good one?!? (sm) - At Home MT
    • 50 bucks for 4 hours? good deal! - ? n/m
  • Yes, every other week, 78 dollars, 2200 sq ft. SM - OhioMT
    • Housekeeper - memyselfandI

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Ex-ZyloMed IC wondering if there are others out there that still have not received their 1099 form in the mail.  Wondering if mine got lost in the shuffle somewhere.

in 2007.  Shouldn't I be receiving a 1099 form from them for tax purposes?  I haven't yet and am wondering if I should contact them.  I paid my quarterlies.  I thought the law was they had until 1/31 to send it.

Hi there,

I have been working as an MT since January.  It was certainly slow at first as I was on a learning curve.  Now I am quite familiar with the work and have made all sorts of "shorthand" for myself with MS Word.  I also spend long hours, often more than 8 a day working at this, and I am still only earning under $600 per two weeks.  How do I get my earnings up?  I have heard one can make very good money doing this... but I am considering going back to work outside the home.  I need to earn at least $1000 per two weeks.  The company I am with pays 8 cpl for typing and 4 cpl for editing.

The MT Conundrum

Those in the medical transcription field flocked to our 2008 Salary Survey, eager to see how they measured up against their colleagues. We had 872 total respondents in the transcription field, and 516 full-time MTs/editors and 212 part-time MTs/editors took our annual survey. Average MT salaries did nudge up a bit--4 percent--from last year, with full- and part-time MTs/editors making an average of $28,900 in 2008, compared to $27,800 last year. Full-time MTs reported bringing in $33,500.

At the Association for Health Care Documentation Integrity (AHDI), Kim Buchanan, CMT, AHDI-F, director of education and credentialing, hears a lot of complaints from MTs in the industry reporting drops in pay. "You hear complaints that wages are going down, but overall the data shows otherwise," Buchanan said. "This stat is showing we're slowly increasing."

MTs who work for medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs) did see a dip in pay (see sidebar on the next page), but certified medical transcriptionists (CMTs) (21 percent of full-time MTs) saw average salaries poke up to $39,000. To compare with last year's results, CMTs across all HIM professions brought in $37,864, and this year, CMTs who were MTs and other HIM professionals combined made an average of $43,900. Buchanan was very encouraged by the numbers, as full-time MTs who have a CMT make nearly $7,000 more than their non-credentialed colleagues. "To me, that really shows the credential differentiates you in the marketplace," Buchanan noted. "It's really encouraging to me to see the credential is being valued, and it should be. The complexity of documentation we're starting to see is going to require a  knowledgeable worker, and to me, credentials show you made a commitment to lifelong learning and you are truly invested in your knowledge."

The registered medical Transcriptionist (RMT) credentialed folks didn't fare as well, making on average $6,000 less than full-time MTs with no credential. The credential is only 2 years old, Buchanan explained, and most RMTs are entry-level MTs/editors who just came out of school. Looking at the average salary of MTs/editors with 0 to 2 years' experience ($24,500), RMTs make more than that ($26,100), and the RMT might also just be the ticket that gets new MTs hired in the field. "In a way, it's really helping them leapfrog that beginning salary you show on 0 to 2 years," Buchanan said. "It's helping them, it's propelling them, and it's putting them ahead, which is great. That's exactly what we wanted it to do."

After examining all the numbers for MTs, Buchanan was happy the average salary for MTs/editors crept up, albeit slightly. "Overall, I'm encouraged to see we continue to increase, even if it's at what looks like a snail's pace," Buchanan said. "In an economy where people are losing jobs left and right, it's good to know transcription is remaining viable, and we're still seeing our wages creep back up."  

Lynn Jusinski is an associate Editor with ADVANCE.

Am relatively new to at home transcription so I am not doing as well as most poster.

Instant Text is relativley new to me, but helping prodcution.

I am not familiar with MP Lite. I know someone will be kind enough to share.

Thanks!

Hello all ... I've been an MT for 13+ years and my current hospital has OUTSOURCED  my position!  I'm in a crappy  job at the hospital currently, working 3-11, to keep my benefits until I decide what to do, and go on interviews.  I'm considering working for the company that took over the hospital account - but I'm not sure what to expect as far as pay per line.  

If its not too personal - how much do you guys earn at home per hour/week?

THanks so much!  Joanne 

1.  What are your monthly earnings -- just you (no spousal income) -- doesn't matter how many jobs....monthly earnings?

2.   Do you work more than one job?

3.  What is your base line rate?  If you have more than 1 job, list all base rates.

4.   Now what is the minimum bring-home pay you need to survive each month?  This is your housing, energy, transportation, insurances, food -- what you have to have to make it. 

5.   What's the difference?  Are you in the hole?  Got surplus?  Breaking even?

My answers:

1.   About $3100 each month.

2.   One job.

3.   $0.095 cpl plus some incentive bonus each month.

4.   $2287 gets everything paid.  Savings and pocket money not included in that figure.

5.   Surplus but not much.  Trying to save as much as possible and have a few greenbacks in my wallet each week. 

:

what matters is: is it worth it to you to work for that rate? On some accounts, my IC's might make only 50% of what I charge the client, on others they might be paid 80%. For one physician, I might charge 12 cents a line - if another calls, says they are in a jam and desperate to get their backlog done, I might bid it at 14.  But if you are satisifed with say 8.5 cents a line, it doesn't matter if your MTSO charges them 9.5 or 19.5.

As far as line rates to physicians, again, it depends on what the market will bear. You could call local physician offices and tell them you are an independent MT service and you are getting price ranges for the locality, and ask the OM what they are paying. That would give you an idea of what is competitive. In West  Virginia, they might be charging 18 cents per line, in Chicagoland they might be charging 11.

The line rate

You can buy them at Staples or Office Depot.  They might come with Turbo Tax also -- not 100% sure.  But I just bought them.  You need her social security number.

had better get that sucker typed before it gets out of ONE MINUTE TAT.

I do make this much.  Even when married I always made more than my husband at a "real job" as he called it.  I did a little more myself this year to pay off those divorce legal bills but I did it.  On account I average 12,000 to 13,000 gross lines per month, another is 15,000 to 17,000 then I have two little accounts and one psych that I subcontract out which between them average another 8,000 lines.   The accounts that I personally type do take me about 22 to 24 hours per week and I put in 15 to 18 hours at a clinic doing EMR's as an employee.  I have a lot of write-off's and pay minimal taxes.l contributing about $700 - 850 a month to my retirement.  I have been doing these docs for 6 years.  Two are surgical oncologists and so I have a lot of consults/letters templates.   If a hernia patient came in I think I could do the consult just by looking at the chart.   I charge 11 cpl gross lines and have not raised my prices in two years but thinking about it.    I do put in 4 long days, 10 hours and then Friday is short  4 hours and Sunday is about 2.   But I have no problem showing my 1099's, it can be done you just have to find your niche.  And I know I am different than working for a national but 20 years ago I took the initiative to develop my own business, took a lot of blood, sweat and tears but the past 10 years I cannot complain.   My docs do treat me well as I have often stated.  But I just don't want anyone to think I have not paid my dues as I have and am truly honest in reporting my figures.  

Does anyone out there who is an IC know of the deadline date for the 1099 forms to be sent out via "employer"?  As a special input, I did some research on what deciphers an employer-employee versus employer-independent contractor.  In summay there were 20 points made and I fit all criteria of being an "employee" instead of classified as "independent contractor" per the IRS.  I am considering filing the "SS-8" form with the IRS, which is a form for the IRS to give their input on the employer-independent contractor issue to determine how I really should be classified.  The way I see it, my employer refers to me as an IC because it simply benefits her, and on the otherhand, it does nothing for me except harm.  I am making 9 cents a line, cut back from 10 cents a line a few couple months ago, and have am offered no benefits whatsoever.  This happens to be one main point that the IRS displays as I would really be classifed an employee as my employer has control of my pay.  Just thought this was an interesting fact to point out to all as it is something I was not aware of until today upon doing self investigation into it.