Medical writing pays when you sell outcomes, not words. Your real deliverable is “client risk removed”: compliance, clarity, and speed through review cycles. Choose your lane deliberately—Regulatory and MedEd reward different personalities.
Pricing models that actually work
Hourly: easy to start, caps upside.
Per-word: suitable for simple MedEd/editorial, risky for complex revisions.
Per-project (value-based): best long-term—price the full workflow (brief → draft → review rounds → QC).
AMWA’s guidance emphasises tracking an “effective hourly rate” (project fee ÷ true hours) so you don’t underprice invisible admin and revisions.
Market signal (rates): don’t anchor too low
EMWA’s freelance surveys report median hourly rates around the €80/hr range (varying by service and experience). AMWA resources also point to established industry benchmarks (e.g., EFA chart ranges for medical writing). Use benchmarks as sanity checks, then price based on scope and review burden.
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