Grappling with MTSO Results

While the overall pay for MTs went up, employees who work for medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs) dropped slightly from last year. In the 2007 survey, MTSO employees brought home an average of $30,166; this year, the average salary of those working for MTSOs dipped to $28,445.

This year, ADVANCE had the ability to break down the numbers further than in prior years. The 187 full-time MTs/editors at MTSOs who responded to our survey reported garnering an average of $30,000 in 2008. Full-time MTs/editors at MTSOs also weighed in on whether or not their salaries changed, dropped or stagnated from 2007 to 2008. Fifty percent reported that pay stayed the same, while 21.5 percent said that they're actually taking home less money than last year. An equal 21.5 percent reported getting a raise, and 7 percent weren't employed in the HIM field at this time last year.

Kim Buchanan, CMT, AHDI-F, director of credentialing and education with the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), noted that most of the complaints about pay that she hears come from MTs/editors who work for MTSOs. "Most of the [unhappy] MTs come from that demographic, and what we hear from the MTSO side is that they're facing a lot of pricing pressure. Hospital contracts are coming in at lower and lower rates and, consequently, MT wages are being impacted." Buchanan explained.

Buchanan also called the numbers a possible "wake-up call for MTSOs." "They're going to really need to take a look at it. Many of them have retention issues, and turnover is costly," Buchanan noted. "Business owners need to find creative ways to incentivize their employees if they want to have a better chance of holding on to them."

In the world of outsourced medical transcription, the marketplace determines the value, she added, and Buchanan said she doesn't believe MTSOs are holding their wallets tight and not sharing with MTs and editors. MTSOs aren't stowing away profits and not paying employees, Buchanan said. "They know, just like anybody, that without the workers they don't have a company, and MTs deserve to make a decent living. The fact that your data shows this is the only sector of our industry with lower wages poses a real challenge for MTSOs," she added.

Compared to full-time, hospital-based MTs/editors, who made $6,700 more than full-time MTSO-employed MTs/editors, those at MTSOs also reported receiving less in the way of benefits provided by employers. Fifteen percent of full-time MTSO employees who took our survey said they receive no benefits at all, not even paid sick or vacation time. Seventy-eight percent are offered health insurance through their employer, and 72 percent do have paid vacation time. To see a full breakdown of benefits provided by MTSOs, and more on MTSO employees' salaries, scroll down near the bottom of this document.

As for the future of MTSO-employed MTs/editors, Buchanan sees a tough road ahead. "We're in a really tough time economically for MTSOs," she noted. "I think they're really having to come up with some creative ways to keep their businesses going."

--Lynn Jusinski

Don't Wait Around

If you've stuck around in your current job title for more than a decade, it might be time to move on or move up, according the ADVANCE Salary Survey numbers. Another new question asked this year was how long HIM professionals have been at their current job titles, and we then correlated that with salaries.

SAM! Farrell, group president, Kforce Professional Staffing, Tampa, FL, noticed that overall, HIM professionals who held their current job title for 30 years or more actually made less than those who've only been in the field for 0 to 2 years. "You always hear that you shouldn't stay in a job too long . that other people coming in to the job will make more than you if you stay too long," Farrell said. "The data almost proves that in this industry. If you're in a job for more than 10 years, you'd better move on!"

HIM professionals at their current job title for 0 to 2 years made $43,700, while those in their current position for 30 plus years brought home an average of $43,600, according to our survey. The results among full-time cancer registrars were somewhat similar. Those who just entered the field in the last 2 years reported making an average of $39,100, while those who stuck around for 20 to 25 years reported making $42,800. It's likely that hanging around in the same job title for decades will just garner you cost-of-living raises, while a move upward or laterally to another facility may be where the raises are.

For cancer registry, a field where educational requirements are changing, new grads typically enter the field at a high rate of pay, noted Toni Hare, vice president, oncology data services, CHAMPS, a Cleveland, OH-based cancer registry consulting firm. The new people coming into the field are often at higher salaries than those who'd been in the same title for a while, and this may cause a pay gap. Hare recommends looking for a challenge. "With the advances in the profession, the time is now. Make something happen. Get certified, get your degree, provide additional value."

 --Lynn Jusinski