Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Online Medical Transcription vs. Offline

There really aren`t many medical transcription services that still offer offline transcriptions, though you will still find them out there. In general, people prefer the instant gratification that the internet provides and the ability to rapidly communicate with the company.

Offline medical transcription usually takes longer, because of the delays in posting time and you will usually be limited to in-country transcriptionists, so the costs are going to be fairly high. This goes away with the ability to communicate online. When you use an online medical transcription service, you`ll be able to send your dictations instantly.

There are other advantages to working with an online medical transcription service, as well. For one, you can literally work with any company anywhere in the world, which means you can choose companies that are based in a foreign country to take advantage of the lower rates.

Whether you select an online or offline medical transcription company, be sure that they fit your needs before committing. You`ll find that there are a lot of different offers out there, so pick a good one!

I meet a lot of people who want to be medical transcriptionists. The appeal is of course that you can work at home, and as gas prices go up, the urge to save on it increases. And I always recommend the better online training courses to them. Why is that?

1. Numbers.

The most basic reason just comes down to numbers, as in number of students. Online schools can have more students than local schools, and so they are generally better known by employers around the country.

2. Reputation.

Pick a school with a good reputation with employers and you increase your odds of finding a job after graduation. This is huge. If your school is an unknown you may struggle to find an employer willing to hire you. They're not much on taking chances with something as important as people's medical records, which is why so many want either an education from a school they trust or two years experience.

3. Convenience.

Going to a local school probably means you have to physically attend class at set times. If your schedule doesn't work with that, tough. You can't learn what you need.

But if your classes are online you typically have a lot more flexibility. Many programs are at least somewhat self-paced. There may be scheduled times to have online chats with classmates and instructors, but you may also be able to contact your instructor by email or in the school's online forum.

4. Realistic Work Practice.

If you're scheduling yourself at home to get your class work done, you're also learning how to work at home. If this is your long term goal why not start as soon as possible? You'll also be learning what it is to have to ask people who aren't there for help when you need it. Even when you're an experienced transcriptionist there will be occasional words or phrases you just can't get, and you have to go online to figure it out. When you work at home you can't just turn to the person next to you and ask.

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