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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Most hire a subcontractor

Posted By: Congratulations! on 2007-02-19
In Reply to: accepting an account - LisaB

I think it it is wise to establish a relationship prior to needing them so they are already familiar with the account(s) and can do it with very little instruction.


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Subcontractor

Yes pay her out of your business account.  You should provide her with a 1099, can buy them or have the IRS send you some.  Also some Quick Books or Turbo Tax help you prepare them.   You deduct it as a expense on your schedule C.  Since it is an expense deduct you won't have to pay taxes on it.  Make sure that she/he realizes that you will be reporting it to the IRS as an expense.   Under 600 you don't have to fill out a 1099 but I do.   Make sure you have their SSN, etc. to fill it out.    Good luck.   I just keep everything separate business and personal - makes it easier even though my Quick Books tells me exactly what I have made, etec.  


Any more questions let me know.  Patti


subcontractor
not to sound dumb, but is this my responsibility? Thanks! 
subcontractor
uggh!  I have wondered about this myself in the past.  this would be the hard part.  I guess I would have to talk it over.  thank you though for your help.
subcontractor
I think what you are doing is wonderful! More people like you should be so kind as to take a newbie under her wing. If I ever an fortunate enough to have my own FTP server and accounts I want to do the same just because I know from experience how hard it is to be a newbie. Hope it works out for you both.
Subcontractor

Get rid of her - nicely.  Just tell her that you MUST meet your deadlines in order to keep your accounts.  Your livelihood depends on this.  Tell her since she is having some difficulties right now, you cannot send her more work.  If you want, tell her to contact you in the future when things settle down for her.


You cannot give her any more chances.  What will you tell your clients?  "Sorry the work didn't get back, but this MT I really like had a personal crisis and couldn't type last night."  


Hire someone less enthusiastic who will do the work on time.  I'm not enthusiastic about this job anymore, but I do it because I'm enthusiastic about living indoors and eating every day. 


 


Pay for subcontractor
Well, first let me say sorry you blew TAT, or it was blown for you - however, if a company holds your check because a TAT was blown, even a last check what would you do? Pay her the 100.00.

As for calling your client, why would you give her this information. When i sub out They get the voice file only and a patient list that has been blacked out on the information. And always sign a confidentiality agreement. If she did call - which I doubt, do not try to confirm with them - they may not like the idea you sub'd out, and why bring it up if they do not. Apparently you are still getting their work so they must like something about it.

Lastly - be careful next time. But also keep in mind - if you were not paid you would have a fit - she just took it one step further and has a hissy fit.


I have a subcontractor......
I have had an account for a couple years and just recently hired on a subcontractor. This account pays me 14 cpl and I pay the subcontractor 7 cpl. This is an easy account and all the sub has to do is type what I send them and I do the rest. Granted, I took a 50% cut on the work by hiring a sub, but now I know that even if I'm not working I have 7 cpl coming in. I don't understand why anyone should feel guilty if they are paying their subs a decent amount for what the work requires. Just last pay period she did 1000.00 worth of work (based on my 14 cpl) and I collected 500.00 of that (based on her pay of 7 cpl). As an IC, I just see it as a benefit to me, not sure why anyone would feel guilty.
I am a subcontractor.
I make 12 cpl with one company full-time acute care and 11 cpl part-time in pediatric subspecialties (neurology and oncology mainly) with another company. The FT does offer a daily production bonus.
Subcontractor Pay
Does $2.00/report for MRI, CTs and ultrasound reports sound reasonable for an MT with 20+ years experience?  I know some reports can be long, some short.  Any insight would be helpful.  Thanks
Subcontractor pay
I do some subcontracting for an IC. My checks are usually different from the amount on my invoice by a little. Sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less. Shouldn't my check be the total on my invoice?
It depends....are you an IC or a subcontractor?
  
10 cpl is not unreasonable as a subcontractor
I have had several subcontracting positions that pay 10 cpl and now working as subcontractor for 11 cpl. You do not have to accept the first thing they offer. Naturally, they are going to offer you a lower rate. If they offer say 9 cpl, then ask for 10 cpl. If they offer 10 cpl then ask for 11 cpl. It has worked for me. Now as an employee with good benefits, I will accept 9 cpl with an incentive plan.
Subcontractor..help with various issues
I need some advice on how to handle having a subcontractor.  I have a subcontractor now helping with one of my accounts.  My process is that I have a separate checking account and separate savings account for business.  All of my checks from work as an IC go into this business checking account. I then transfer to the business savings account a certain percentage for taxes.  We'll then transfer most of the remainder to our household checking accounts. That way, I can look at the business checking account and see my deposits and know exactly what my income is.  Anyway, now that I have a subcontrator, I don't know exactly how to handle everything. Do I just keep track of what I pay her and then claim it as an expense at the end of the year? Will I have to give her a 1099? I guess I should only hold back for taxes on the percentage of the money I keep now. I'm just confused on the whole process. I could use any advice...or a point in the right direction for where to find information on this.  Thanks!
Lisa - subcontractor
There have been people here who would like just a little extra.  If you get the account and once you are settled, why don't you put your need on the board.  You might find some bites.  Some people like to do a little extra.  Of course if it is something digital you could even go away from your state.  Just a thought.  I happen to enjoy helping others when on vacation.  It has worked for me in the past as well when I needed a vacation .
Paying a subcontractor
I am going to take in a subcontractor in an on-the-job training program. I want to know your input on paying them and paying yourself for the training. I an setting up an on-the-job training program. As an independent contractor, I receive 8 cents/line. I am going to have the subcontractor work with me in my office at my other work station, and I will teach her everything and QA all of her work closely until she is up to speed. I was thinking of paying her 6 cents/line and me 2 cents/line. What is your input on a suitable division of payments?
Diff between IC & subcontractor
What is the diff between these two?  And do most of you have set hours that work as a subcontractor or do you pretty much have flexible hours?  Thanks!
I agree, but if I have a subcontractor come
into my home to remodel or something, I certainly can tell them not to come at midnight or early in the morning because that does not work for me. He does not have to abide by that and can turn the job down, but I can certainly suggest it.
Taxes as IC or subcontractor?
Does anyone know about filing taxes as a subcontractor or IC? Do taxes work the same for both? Is it the self employed tax form? Any info is helpful thanks.
they don't REFUSE to hire new MT's. They REFUSE to hire them at 6-8 cents per line.

mostly because you can now hire experienced MT's at 6-8 cpl. In the near future, you will be able to hire experienced MT's at 5 cpl. Then people will start getting out of this business and new people will stop trying to get in. I had a job opening and asked people to bid what they wanted per line. One very smart young lady was a new grad and bid 3 cpl. I hired her a year and a half ago, she has been terrific! and I was willing to spend my time training her because a) time is money and she saved me money so I could spend my time and b) she had definite potential!. In another six months, she will be the MT with 2 years experience applying for jobs. AND she will get them because she will test well and essentially "bought" her experience. So use Economics 101...


 


When I use a subcontractor, I pay them as soon as their invoice is turned in to me.

I consider it a good business practice to pay the sub as soon as their invoice is submitted. After all, don't you expect the client your contract with to do the same for you. You really should have paid this $100 invoice long before now. You have no recourse and should consider this a lesson learned.


Personally, I don't think you have any business subbing out work if you're no more prepared to pay and, apparently, are careless with the information that your sub receives from you. You could also be considered breeching confidentiality if you're not having the sub sign some sort of understanding regarding the confidential nature of the work you're sending out.


So you are subcontractor, not contracting with doctor direct.
If that's the case, then you need to ask the MTSO you work for if they can provide schedules for the doctors. They may not have them, either, but they could ask the docs for them. So it was their staff and not the doctor's staff that couldn't verify his schedule? That would be different advice then. Sorry - thought you were contracting directly with the doctor as your client. Sounds like you were hired through an MT service instead.

Maybe they get the work from the doctor that way, but the MTSO should try to organize and work it out with the doctor to see that it's uploaded promptly. Not all offices will cooperate in that respect so it's on the MTSO to remedy that, unfortunately. Some just send when they please without regard to the MTs' schedules, and sometimes you can talk until you're blue in the face but they still do it "their" way, on their terms. The MTSO could hold their ground and request the doc to send on a more regular basis, but it's pretty much out of your hands, I'm afraid.

As an IC, you can say "this is when I'll be available to work," and let the MTSO schedule accordingly. Or you can always find other IC work to supplement so you can at least work while you are waiting, or just find another gig altogether if it gets really bad.
2 accts are direct hospital, 1 is a clinic and the 4th is a subcontractor position. nm
.
I'm a new-hire MT. I don't know about
the workload available; I was told there was lots of OT available b/c the accounts are behind. We will see.

I'm sorry you have such a bad outlook with this company. Perhaps you should work somewhere else?

Btw, were you trying to spell "carousel" in your post?

oh, they want want to hire you,
its just that they want to pay you less than minimum wage for the first couple years because you aren't *qualified.* I bet the school didn't mention that. None of them do. Good luck paying off that student loan.
I don't know of anywhere that would hire...sm
you with no school training or anything. I think even the local clinics and hospitals want you to have a course in it or something and if you have no job experience they may train.
they don't hire IC but they have sm
but they have some specific accounts in some specialties where you keep the same account, same doctors.
I never said I hire Indian MTs
...but I can't wait to see you bleed to death by your own hand, either.

Thanks for driving us away from American MTs though.

I fought against offshore heavily. What did you do?

Bitter, bitter, incompetent MTs.
What companies hire....

international/over seas MTs? I have been looking and looking for a decent job that hires MTs from Canada, are their any?


RE: What companies hire
Spheris.
No, even the hospitals don't want to hire new MTs.
Doctors don't want to hire newbies.  In office, at home, it doesn't matter.  It's not about being a stay at home mommy, as you are so assuming and generalizing yourself.  Everyone wants to hire experienced workers, but nobody is willing to train them.  As I said, every other industry in the country trains their workers.  MT seems to be the only one where people are expected to walk into it knowing everything.  It's not an assumption; it's an observation.  Just because my experience and observations are different than yours does not make me wrong.  You're not the know all, end all to the MT world.  I do have business management experience and education, so don't dismiss my observation as lacking just because it doesn't match yours.
hire time
I think it took a few days after the recruiter emailed me initially b/c she was busy or something, but after that everything went faster. Maybe you should just call, I don't think they would mind. I don't think you should worry.
I won't hire anyone without them first being willing to test.
p
Does anyone know of companies who hire
I currently transcribe but miss medical billing. I would love to find a job working from home. Please post response or email me.

thanks
I don't think DW is not looking to hire anyone but is looking for work herself - nm
x
Any companies out there still hire
/
You say you need the benefits, so I would definitely hire in
I did transcription at home, bought my own insurance, got depressed and gained weight and lost almost all my social contacts. It really changed my personality for the worse. But for another person with stronger family ties, or real involvement in the community, it might not turn out that way.

In the past 5 years I've had to have some medical attention(comes with my age group) and I have been SO thankful for paid time off and for health insurance. I now also have some hope of having a decent retirement income so I don't burden my children when i get to that age.

It's such an individual thing. Best of luck in making the decision that is a great fit for you and yours.
I would hire you in a heartbeat...

for all of the reasons mentioned in your post, and then some. 


Sorry, not require but WILL HIRE
I'm sorry. I meant hospitals that will hire remote MTs, not require! :o)
Who's going to hire a 60 year old except

the fast food places and Wal-Mart. And they don't pay that much either. I already checked into it.


I don't like being around people that much either. I left an office job because of office politics...not once...but 4 times in my lifetime of working. Just couldn't take the crap.  In today's world, the people out there aren't very nice. In fact, some of them are downright nasty. I've seen them treat service personnel as if THEY owned the place.


Also, there aren't many jobs or decent wages in my area. Most jobs around here pay minimum wage. For me to get a good job, I would have to go 40 miles from home into another county without the benefit of a 4 lane highway. Only 2 lanes and mostly through small towns with low speed limits. It would take me about an hour to get to a decent paying, so you're spending 10 hours a week on the road.


I stay in MT because I love the challenge, because I can work at home. I drive my car about 5 miles a week. That's it. A tank of gas lasts me more than a month.


You get your own clients, then you hire them...sm
MTSOs are paid on production, too, so most simply cannot take on the task of training a newbie. If you think that's a good business plan, get some clients and give it a whirl. It's just not realistic to expect MTSOs to train inexperienced MTs and still have enough hours in the day to handle other aspects of the business, as well - and still make a small profit of some sort.

When I see suggestions like this, I have to assume they come from someone who has never even run a business before. It's easy to sit on the sidelines and make suggestions when you have no idea what is involved. The MTSO doesn't just sit on his/her tush and eat bon-bons while the MTs type their fingers to the bone. There is a LOT that goes into running a successful service (key word successful). The lucky MTSOs find enough help to where they don't have to transcribe and can handle just the business aspect, but many aren't that fortunate and still do a good deal of transcribing along with that.

Besides training those inexperienced MTs - and that's a full-time job in itself, believe me - you will have to proof their work very thoroughly (which will mean a full listen on all sound files to ensure accuracy or risk losing your clients altogether). You will also be responsible for tracking and assigning work to the MTs, scurrying to find help when someone decides they'd rather go shopping than work that day (happens more often than you might think), handle payroll and tax documentation for each individual client and each individual MT, invoicing and billing your clients and tracking payments, maintenance of equipment and supplies, handling client phone calls and concerns including next-to-impossible "tech support" questions from clients that really just don't understand the equipment, etc., etc. The list goes on.

Keep in mind, while you are training the inexperienced MTs, you will also need to do a LOT of transcription yourself. Most inexperienced MTs will take all day to finish one 25-minute file, so you will have to transcribe many lines yourself to meet the client's TAT if you want to keep the clients. Since it takes most people at least a year to finish MT school, you can count on keeping up this pace for about that long. And it would probably be more like indefinitely since everyone learns at a different pace.

You will be putting in at least 12-hour days, assuming you are fast and efficient, and you will rarely get time off. If you do take time off, it will be without pay and when you return, you will have so much work piled up that you'll spend the next 2 weeks working around the clock to get caught up.

I'm all for keeping it in the USA, but you cannot seriously expect companies that are also paid on production to train newbies. Would you expect to be trained from the bottom up to be a plumber? Doctor? Dentist? Lawyer? Why do so many MTs think they deserve to be hired without any skills?

If you are up to training inexperienced MTs on top of all that, knowing full well that you will make next to nothing in pay yourself after you pay said MTs at least 7-8 cpl, then knock yourself out and be sure to let us know how it goes!

If I wanted to train inexperienced MTs, I'd start an MT school. Yes, we were all new and inexperienced at some point, but since MT has gone to production pay and offsite, most are not trained OTJ anymore. It's just not feasible, no matter how good your intentions. Even the "experienced" MTs require some training on account specs, so most MTSOs lose money in the first month or so of hiring, but there's no way any smart businessperson would agree to that indefinitely.

If you want to keep jobs in the USA, get adequate training and act professional. Don't accept rotten line rates, even if it's just "for now," and don't turn in work with careless mistakes. Don't say you'll work but then call off because you'd rather take Little Mary and Johnny swimming because it's a nice day. Don't expect special treatment just because you're a mom - many MTSOs are moms, too, and are working long hours and sacrificing time with their own families in order to make sure the clients are happy!! There is no option for MTSOs to just blow work off for the day, because if they do, they probably won't have clients come the next day. Clients won't put up with it since they can just get online and find another service willing to do the work (and more often than not, they don't even have to do that becuase services are marketing to them regularly).

It's not even about offshore competition. It's about changing the way MTs are viewed on the whole. Act professional and you will be treated as a professional. It really is that simple the majority of the time.
Plumber is IC. When you hire him, do you
x
then you need to hire employees ... sm
If you need someone to adhere to a strict schedule then you need to hire employees and pay their SS.  I am finding that more and more employers want the best of both world.  They want to pay like an IC and treat like an employee.  Why MTs are putting up with this is beyond me.  If they report the "employers" to the IRS they can be held liable for back taxes. 
would you hire an MT to be a dentist
without any formal training???? I get very frustrated with people who ask me to get them a job because, after all, how hard can just sitting there typing be?

This is a serious job. You can change a patients past, present and future by one mistake on a report. You do not "travel this avenue" for fun.

If you want to be an MT, and can be serious about it, then you will take an MT course and learn what you need to know. If you are not willing to do that then you need to find another avenue.
And how about that AGE DISCRIMINATION! Only hire
.
TTS, NH - do they hire newbies

TTS, NH - do they hire newbies?  I have a whole 6 weeks of experience and am looking for a good company.  Not fond of the big nationals.


If you have any additional suggestions for good companies I am open.


Looking for employee position, but realize that initially this is almost impossible to find. Will definitely settle for IC status.


If you hire an attorney (sm)
you an also request reimbursement for your expenses, court costs and attorney fees. I would mention this in my letter to the MTSO also. If this MTSO does this to you I guarantee you are not the only person they are doing it to.

Good luck
Yes, they could like hire an employee
of choice and complying with IRS guidelines.  However, since ICs will "agree" to work certain hours, the company gets away with it very, very easily even though it is against the guidelines set forth by the IRS. 
WHY do companies say they hire QA from within? Do
they not understand that MT and QA are two completely different positions, and that if an MT wanted a QA position, she would've applied for it in the first place?  This has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.  Rather than hire someone with 10+ years of QA experience, you'd rather 'promote' an MT to become a newbie QA & have to train them from scratch how to QA? Or make someone who's been a professional QA for years become an MT again, when the reason they became a QA in the first place probably had to do with their hands giving out?!  Again, it's not a promotion -- it's a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT JOB.  Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of making these decisions have any MT experience at all.  <end of rant>
Sometimes companies hire ICs for
overflow, sometimes permanently. As an IC you do have to purchase your own insurance and you get no vacation time. Some places will pay extra for holidays even as an IC, but you will not get "holiday pay" if you do not work. You set your own hours, if the MTSO is willing for you to work those fine. They cannot set in stone your hours, but they CAN say when they have work available if it is not 24/7 and you can choose to work or not.
Be thankful. If they hire more you will
stare at nothing on the screen.
Did MQ hire supes to be cheerleaders?

Rah, rah, sis, boom, bah ! Almost makes me regurgitate when I get those imails. Also when upper mgmt sends those intro imails over and over about a new "high dollar" CEO/manager that they have hired with our monies, rather than giving us a raise and better benefits.


MQ supe is definitely not the asset it was to the MT's in the past. It is all about pleasing the upper management now -- using Excel to send those much needed reports back and forth. 


I miss the supe of yesteryear!