Medical Transcription: A Viable Work At Home Career

A Growing Industry

Medical Transcription or Billing is an industry that is exploding. It's prestigious and in demand. According the the U.S. Department of Labor, "Employment of medical transcriptionists is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2010. Demand for medical transcription services will be spurred by a growing and aging population."

Transcription is one of those jobs that many people know can be done from home, and so the interest level is very high. Unfortunately, there are many companies out there trying to capitalize on that interest. The results are over-priced and sub-standard courses.

What Do Transcriptionists Do?

Transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribe them into documents such as operating room notes, autopsy reports, discharge summaries and other documents which then become part of a patient's medical record. In order to be able to transcribe information accurately, medical transcriptionists must understand medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, and treatment.

What Kind of Training Must MT's Have?

In the course of my research, the first thing I learned was that you can't just jump into a career as an MT without training. This is a detailed, professional (and fascinating) career which requires technical knowledge. The American Association for Medical Transcription defines the requirements this way:

"Medical understanding is critical for the professional medical transcriptionist. The complex terms used in medicine are unlike the language of any other profession. Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. A medical transcriptionist is truly a medical language specialist who must be aware of standards and requirements that apply to the health record, as well as the legal significance of medical transcripts.

Reports of patient care take many forms, including histories and physical examinations, progress reports, emergency room notes, consultations, operative reports, discharge summaries, clinic notes, referral letters, radiology reports, pathology reports, and an array of documentation spanning more than 60 medical specialties and sub specialties! Thus, the medical transcriptionist, or medical language specialist, must be well versed in the language of medicine."

Medical transcription is a medical language specialty, so you can see that it requires not only the proper training, but also an investment in reference materials and a commitment to ongoing learning as technology and terminology changes. Equally important to the long-term success of a Transcriptionist is having the right personality for the job. Some qualities that successful MT's share are:

• Independent by nature
• Word Specialist
• Perfectionist
• Detail oriented
• Training Options

It's also important to note that most companies require candidates for telecommute MT positions to have on-site experience- as is the case with most all telecommute jobs. In many cases, 2 years of experience working in a hospital or doctor's office is required. If this is a field that you are truly interested in, getting those 2 years under your belt and then being qualified to telecommute is a pretty good deal.

The second thing I found was that there sure were a lot of courses out there. They ranged in price from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand! I was overwhelmed! It was then that I realized that I would need some help. I found a great place where working MT's hang out and support each other. If you are seriously interested in this field, you'll want to visit this site. It's called Transdyne.


Whichever course you choose, just be sure to do your homework by checking with the Better Business Bureau and asking for references.

The bottom line is, for the right people, Medical Transcription is the real deal when it comes to viable work at home careers.
Sphere: Related Content

Medical Transcription Field has Strong Growth for the Future

medical transcription career field is projected to grow faster than average for all occupations through 2014. Demand for medical transcription services will be spurred by a growing and aging population. Older age groups receive proportionately greater numbers of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that require documentation."

Medical transcription is a $25 billion business. The Department of Labor predicts an 18 percent to 26 percent growth in the industry. Part of the growth is because HIPAA regulations require all hospitals to convert medical records to digital format. Another reason is the country's aging population, which will create more medical records.

In addition, there's a shortage of 50,000 qualified transcriptionists. Many US companies are outsourcing to transcriptionists overseas.

The medical transcription field continues to be an essential part of health care even with all the world's technological advances. This will continue due to the fact that computer's don't do dictation, as we know it.

window.google_render_ad(); Voice recognition technology still cannot accurately read the human voice for all spoken words. It takes a doctor a long time to teach a computer, with voice recognition software, to be able to recognise their speech.The accuracy and detail required in medical transcription means there will be a career in medical transcription for many years to come.Digital medical transcription has opened up many new doors for those wanting to work at home.

It has never been easier to work in freelance medical transcription. Other training that is associated with medical transcription is that of medical coding and medical billing.Medical transcription degrees can be obtained by completing courses with a medical transcription school. Once you have completed a degree and gained experience consider specialising.

When you are working in the medical transcription field and you specialize, it has a dramatic impact on your income potential.

Areas to Specialize In

• Autopsies • Cardiology • Dermatology

• Endocrinology • Family Practice • Gastroenterology

• Internal Medicine • Multi Speciality • Neurology

• Obstetrics/Gynaecology • Oncology • Ophthalmology

• Orthopaedics • Pathology • Paediatrics • Podiatry

• Psychology • Pulmonalogy • Radiology

• Rehabilitation • Reproductive Endocrinology

• Surgery • Urology • And Others


A career in medical transcription shows a promising job outlook with growth expected to continue for many years to come. Good job prospects can be supported by the fact that the world has an aging population and an aging population requires more medical care.

Earnings for a medical transcriptionist are on the increase for competent transcriptionists, especially when they become specialists in one of the areas listed above.

When you are in the medical transcription field and you specialise you dramatically increase your potential for a higher income.

Sphere: Related Content

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.

Sphere: Related Content

Medical Transcription Salary Tips to Dramatically Increase Your Income

Your medical transcription salary will be directly proportionate to what you know and are able to do in the medical field. Here are some pointers that should help you increase your knowledge and vastly improve your income throughout your medical transcription career, whether you work at home or in an office.

Master Basic MT Courses: Learning medical transcription basics means studying medical terminology, pharmacology, anatomy, laboratory values, disease processes, and medical report formats. Mastering these basics means taking it a step further: You must be able to determine if the proper term or lab value was actually dictated; and if not flag it, citing why you are questioning it. In other words, you must be able to apply the basics in real situations and see if it makes sense contextually.

Master Typing Skills: This may sound like a no-brainer, but spend time trying to improve on typing speed and accuracy. Also remember that accuracy in the medical transcription field always trumps speed. It takes time to develop good, accurate typing speed but it sure pays off big time once you have reached this goal.

Master Computer Basics: This involves learning all the software programs that can enhance and speed up your output. Do you know how to create macros? Do you use word expander software? How about line count software? If you are operating a home based medical transcription business, do you know/use accounting software? These programs take time to master, but once you do, you will be amazed at how much your medical transcription salary will skyrocket.

Master Coordination Required For Medical Transcription: Medical transcribing involves hearing dictation and concurrently typing it, all the while trying to maintain speed and accuracy. Your brain is being bombarded concurrently by audio and video input, all the while the fingers are flying and one or both feet are operating the foot pedal to play, back up, or advance the tape or digital recording. It is an exhausting exercise when first learning how to do this, and most people have no clue that it is so demanding.

Master Weaknesses: Most of us know what our individual strengths are and work hard to improve on them. More importantly however, is the ability for a medical transcriptionist to evolve by turning weaknesses into strengths. An honest self-assessment of your abilities is required. If need be, get some input from a trusted medical transcriptionist who knows you well and ask how she thinks you may be able to improve on your weaknesses.

It never ceases to amaze me that people coming into the medical transcription field right out of school expect to make large sums of money from the start. This is not realistic. However, application of the above tips will expedite your ability to earn a medical transcription salary well above the amount made by the average medical transcriptionist.

Sphere: Related Content

Transcription - Making Your Life Easier

When it was first used and aired over the radio, the word transcription drew large attention and become the gist of the public’s conversation. Newspapers also have many data about and everybody who can read it become interested in getting into it.

Being a transcriptionist, working on transcriptions offers a different kind of job opportunity. It is a task that you can get fond of, aside from that you will also be earning more money as compared to other jobs.

However, does working as a transcriptionist present to you the greener pasture you are looking for?

Quality transcription generally means providing the client with the clearest and most comprehensive drafts that the clients look into. In order to achieve this goal, the company makes sure that they get highly experienced transcriptionists and the best audios that can be acquired.

The work somehow leads to pressure, aside from being a deadline-driven business; it also needs a full precision. All the information that you will be hearing over the audio, you must be able to transcribe it accurately. The clients always seek for an output that is both credible and reliable.

The companies also have to make it sure, that they will deliver the complete transcripts in the quickest time as possible. Aside from accuracy, deadline is another important consideration. Once the client has given a particular cut-off limit, by whatever means, it has to be delivered.

The value of a transcription will vary on how the clients assess the work that these transcriptionists accomplished. The increase or the decrease on the number of their clients will also depend upon the quality of output that the transcriptionist produced.

Most of the noted formats that are accepted by the transcriptionist are the following:

1. Court tapes- This will be comprise of the coverage of court hearings be it in higher or lower courts. It will also include testimonies from both of the parties involve in a particular case.

2. Interviews- This will also include the dialogue usually between the interviewer and the interviewee.

3. Board Meetings and Conferences- The important agenda of the meeting are necessary things to be discussed and taken into account.

4. Roundtable Discussions- this refers to either a formal or an informal manner of laying discussing things out by a group.

5. Medical Advisory Groups- Usually, this is one of the most in demand services in transcription at present.

6. Video and Film Time Coding- Clients who are in the field of movie editing are offered these services.
On the other hand, when it also deals with the transfer of your audio in various media types, you can do it on neither of the audiotape, Compact Disc, CD-ROM, DVDs, and some can be transmitted to videocassettes. There are several preferences so that it will be easier for you to transfer the data from the audio that you needed.

The entire task in transcription needs to be done precisely. The transcriptionists make it sure that they are able to make all the necessary omissions, corrections, formatting and other technical tasks that must be done before sending the outputs to the clients.

The companies also provide for several trainings and reviews for their transcription to keep track that the quality of their work is for the better.

Sphere: Related Content