Accurate Transcription

We offer Accurate Transcription and passionate about delivering the highest level of transcription services to our clients. Our solutions address the needs of practitioners, administrators, and institutions by utilizing the most effective blend of technology and human expertise.

Our dedication to our customer has been always our highest priority and is demonstrated at every stage. From quality assurance to information technology to operations to sales, our experts respond immediately to resolve your inquiries expeditiously.

Medical Transcription

HATS offer high-quality transcription of medical conferences, seminars, meetings, medical reviews and articles, and medical reports.

Our state-of-the-art transcription and processing system allows us to offer excellent benefits to doctors:

Flexibility

We adapt ourselves easily to changing situations, including volume and variance of dictation. We go the distance when it comes to increasing productivity and enhancing efficiency, which means you can concentrate on patient care rather than worrying about your transcription needs.

State-of-the-art technology

Our user-friendly web-based system is at your service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your dictation is processed immediately and returned to you- accurately transcribed, all within our agreed SLA!

Rigorous Quality Assurance

Our team of Quality Assurance professionals makes it their business to check and recheck your processed transcription so it is accurate to the last degree. The documents you receive can immediately be distributed to your patient charts or the community. With added accuracy, you can be sure of getting additional patient referrals.

Confidentiality

We are utterly discreet when it comes to protecting medical records and your patients’ privacy. Files are sent in an encrypted format and every stage of the work process is protected to ensure maximum security and confidentiality, in accordance with HIPAA regulations.

Doctors can dictate over the phone using toll-free numbers. Or dictate into handheld recorders, PC microphones, PDAs, and send to us the audio files through our secure and 100% HIPAA-compliant server.

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Medical Transcription E-learning

Like everything, medical transcription has also been through phases of evolution. Medical transcription is a rather dynamic industry with new experiments and additions going on everyday. The industry evolved from manual typewriters to electronic typewriters to word processor and then to plastic disks, magnetic belts and finally to digital recordings. Voice Recognition System or VRS is the recent evolution in the medical transcription industry.

VRS is used by medical transcriptionists and proof-readers in providing supplementary editorial services. There are certain cases where the VRS has completely replaced medical transcription. Earlier, medical transcription (MT) consisted of handwritten notes with lots of abbreviations and responsibilities of the physician. These notes and interpretations were then supplemented in patient’s file for reference.

The handwritten notes and typed notes are all consolidated and kept in a file along with the records of other patients for further reference. Whenever, a physician required the record of a specific patient, the patient’s file is retrieved from the huge mass of files. To enhance this process, usually two or three carbon copies of same medical record are kept in a single file.

But now things have completely changed. Huge files have given way to desktop computers that are connected with powerful servers. A patient’s record is processed and archived individually in these servers. The unique digital format allows instant access to these servers even from the remote location. Medical transcriptionists now work closely with the programmers to stream in voice and get continuous data through network interfaces.

In fact, healthcare providers now make use of personal data assistants (PDA) and other software’s for their service. The Computer Aided Medical Transcription (CAMT) is software that is exclusively designed for medical transcription industry. The CAMT has several benefits that are attributing to its popularity. Following are some of them:

Changing Medical Dictation to Text: The CAMT software change spoken words to texts. This software was especially developed for medical transcription.

An Efficient Interface for Medical Transcriptionists: Using these software’s you can easily increase your editing speed. In these software’s, editing is done as fast as keyboard stokes and shortcuts.

Interpreting and Formatting Document: CAMT perfectly understands what a physician intends to mean and transcribe accordingly. For example, the software understands when the word “next” refers to ‘3’ in the list and when the physician uses it to mean the next section.

Every year the healthcare providers spend thousands of dollars for the increased charges of the MT industry. Further, there also had been a dearth in the number of efficient medical transcriptionist. The advent of the CAMT helped the service providers in saving few dollars that they would otherwise spent for the MT industry.

The invention of CAMT has revolutionized medical transcription industry. It can now deliver high quality work within turn around time (TAT). The software is simple and easy to use. This software has brought this industry at the edge of a huge change and it’s also time for us to change our concept of medical transcription.

Low cost Transcription, Transcribing Medical Records, Medical Transcription Vendor, medical transcription, outsource transcription, medical transcriptionist Sphere: Related Content

Outsourcing Gain Through Application Service Providers

The medical transcription was transformed into total businesses by technology sophisticated with the introduction of the service providers of transcription application. There are many platforms for service provider, which based on the WEB application that supply for large, medium, small and also individual MTSOs based at the house. Many companies offer the software easy to use TASP which are accessible on line.

The medical transcription industry underwent an enormous revolution since the last decades.

Earlier, medical transcription had to make trips to the doctor’s office every week and collect the audio tapes and deliver it back after the work was done.A profession practiced locally with simple tools – a tape transcriber and typewriter – medical transcription has been transformed into a global business by sophisticated technology with the introduction of Transcription Application Service Providers (TASP).

Luckily, there are many web-based application service provider platforms that cater to different types of large, medium, small and also individual home based MTSOs (Medical Transcription Service Organizations).

The TASP type of files routing system is very efficient. It manages the entire process or lifecycle of the document, right from the time of dictation at the hospital/physician’s location to sending it for transcription/editing to the MT and back to the medical professional. This type of system saves a lot of time and money vis-à-vis other transcription methods. There are dial in systems that take dictations. Playback happens when the residing codec (analog to digital converter) creates a digital sound file which the medical transcriptionist can play back and transcribe.

TASP benefits:

Encrypted document

Nil capital investment

Lower telephone costs

Better work allocation

Wholly functional work pool module

Higher accuracy

Timely feedback

Shorter turnaround time

High security of documents

Hassle-free document delivery

TASP software is known to be so user-friendly that even visually impaired transcriptionists can use it effectively. Many companies offer TASP software that are available online.

Features of TASP software:

It has an online workflow management system that has superior control

It facilitates all the modes of Digital Dictation (toll-free, digital recorder etc.)

Online patient record is maintained

EPR (Electronic Patient Records)

Online service saving hardware, software and setup costs

Fully secure data transfer

HIPAA compliant transfer

Fault Tolerance and Redundancy

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Medical Transcription Courses

The medical transcription industry has become an important fixture in the medical field, helping to provide accurate files for medical patients. The job market for medical transcriptionists (MTs) is at an all-time high, yet many people are not aware of the proper training and courses that must be completed before starting a career as an MT. Luckily, there are many courses available that will train prospective MTs and even allows others to continue their education in order to further their work in the MT field.

One of the foremost experts in the medical transcription field is the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), formerly the American Association for Medical Transcriptionists (AAMT). The people at AHDI sponsor several different medical transcription courses that are all AHDI approved. They have also written several books that have become the go-to texts for many medical transcription courses. The Model Curriculum for Medical Transcription is one book that the AHDI has published and is used widely around the country to teach potential MTs all they need to know about the medical transcription industry. The association has also published the AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription, which has become the gold standard for use in the medical transcription field. This book shows MTs the right and wrong ways to word certain phrases and gives the correct terminology required to make all records as accurate as possible. The AHDI also offers CDs, audiotapes, and video-based texts for those students wishing to study independently or for classroom use.

Some of the AHDI approved schools that use these texts can be found all over the country and online. One school that has received rave reviews is the Penn Foster Career School, which teamed up with DANTES (a program in coordination with the U.S. military) to help students pay their tuition to the school. Penn Foster prides itself on being one of the most affordable ways to study to be an MT, and it offers various payment plans to suite any needs.

Another good educational institute is Transdyne, which not only trains individuals to be MTs but also teaches them valuable life skills to prepare them for the job market. They are so many schools offers courses on interview skills, teaches how to write a resume and cover letter, and also introduces students to contacts in the field. The school also offers a one year membership to the Medical Association of Billers (MAB) upon completion of the course.

Physically going to school is not the only way to take MT courses. There is a variety of courses offered online and at home so that anyone can choose the most convenient option for them. Online-Education.net is a great site that provides links to various schools that offer both one year certificates and two year associate degrees. The site claims to have a 93% placement rate for all students who search on it.

Transdyne is another good site for those who want to train as an MT online. The program was designed by experienced transcriptionists currently working as MTs to teach valuable lessons from their vast experiences in the field. This environment sets Transdyne apart from the others because people who visit the site will learn about real life experiences and what the medical transcription field really is like. Transdyne offers CDs, practice tapes, medical dictionaries, and other great materials that can help provide a full view of the medical transcription industry.

These options are just a few of the medical transcription courses available to anyone wishing to pursue a career as an MT. Many of the courses are readily available, and the online courses allow individuals to start right away.

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Medical transcriptionists now among RP's highest-paid

Medical transcriptionists are now the second highest-paid workers in the health sector after medical doctors, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) disclosed over the weekend.

Citing the results of the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics' latest Occupational Wages Survey, TUCP spokesperson Alex Aguilar said medical transcriptionists are now earning substantially higher compensation income compared to medical technologists, nurses and even dentists.

According to survey, medical transcriptionists get an average of PhP10,757 in monthly wages.

This rate is P1,462 or 16 percent higher than the average of P9,295 received by medical technologists; P1,813 or 20 percent higher than the P8,944 received by nurses; and PhP3,722 or 53 percent higher than the PhP7,035 received by dentists.

Medical doctors receive an average of P18,134 in monthly wages.

The survey covered only compensation income earners in medical, dental and other health jobs as opposed to those earning professional fees.

Aguilar said employment growth in outsourced medical transcription services is expected to outpace considerably the 25-percent annual job expansion in the country's booming contact centers.

He said medical transcription jobs are projected to increase at an average annual rate of 90 percent through 2010.

"The growth of medical transcription services is assured as long as we have enough supply of capable human resources," he pointed out.

Aguilar said fresh graduates of nursing, pharmacy, medical technology, public health, physical therapy and other allied medical courses should be encouraged to consider transcription work while they are waiting for higher-paying employment opportunities here or abroad.

"Nursing graduates, for instance, can work part-time or full-time as transcriptionists while reviewing for the licensure examination or while waiting for an overseas job placement," he said.

The local medical transcription industry is seen to generate US$ 238 million in revenues this year; US$ 476 million in 2008; US$ 952 million in 2009; and US$ 1.71 billion by 2010.

The industry now employs more than 17,000 medical transcriptionists.

This workforce is expected to hit 34,000 by 2008; 68,000 by 2009; and 122,000 by 2010, according to the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc.

Medical transcription is the process of transforming voice-recorded or hand-written medical reports, such as dictation of physicians and hospital records, to text matter that may be stored as printed or electronic data.

In developed countries, electronic medical records have become the preferred means of data storage, giving medical professionals ready access to information regardless of location.

Aguilar said the United States medical transcription services market alone is worth US$ 25 billion annually and more jobs there are being entrusted to the Philippines which has ample supply of cost-effective, English-speaking human resources. Sphere: Related Content

Outsourcing Transcription - How to Get the Best Deal

There are many transcription services available but sometimes an affordable transcription service can seem hard to find. Transcription is not cheap, because it is a lot more involved than copy typing, but that doesn't mean you can't find a good deal with a transcription service, and what's more, by providing good quality recordings you can make the transcription more affordable, as it will take less time to complete.

When pricing up your options the most important thing to remember is that it's just not possible to type as fast as you speak. Even an experienced transcriptionist will be able to average four times as long for a good, clear one-to-one interview - so an hour of recording will take an average of four hours to transcribe. (Industry standards obtained from the Industry Production Standards Guide (1998), published by OBC, Columbus, OH, USA). But a poor quality recording will take much longer. So how can you make sure that your transcript is clear, in order to get an affordable transcription price? Basically, the easier you make the transcription for the transcriptionist, the more likely they are to be able to give you an affordable transcription quote.

First of all, use the best transcription equipment you can afford, and make sure it's right for your needs. This means that for interviews you should have a recorded with an external microphone rather than one built into the recorder, which is only designed to pick up dictation. For focus groups you should have several microphones so that all participants are audible, and for conferences the speakers should have good microphones and there should also be people in the audience with 'roving' microphones to take around to any audience members wanting to ask a question.

Always try to make sure that you are recording in a quiet environment. Open windows can cause big problems unless you have a 'noise cancelling' microphone, which many digital ones are these days. So can air conditioning, so if you do have an air conditioning unit in the room try to ensure your speakers are not situated close to it. If conducting interviews by phone, and assuming that you have arranged these in advance (and asked permission to record, of course) then it's helpful to ask your interviewee to try to make sure they're in a quiet environment too!

If you are interviewing and you want the names included then it is helpful to spell out your interviewee's name at the beginning of the recording, before starting the interview, and speak out any information you would like on the transcript header e.g. the date, the job title of your interviewee etc. For conferences a speaker list and also a delegate list, if there will be audience questions, can save the transcriptionist a lot of time in trying to work out names and organisations.

During the interview, unless you need to interrupt in order to take back control of the interview, try not to speak over your interviewee. Often in a normal conversation we say 'yeah, yeah, yeah' or 'right' or 'OK' more to indicate we're listening than for any other reason. Every time you say that you are likely to be obscuring a much more important word or group of words spoken by your interviewee. And in conferences or panel discussions, if one speaker is giving a talk (i.e. without interruptions, not a discussion) make sure everyone else's microphones are turned off. I have, in the past, had to mark whole sentences or even paragraphs of a talk as inaudible, because all I could hear were two panel members chatting about their holidays or little Jonny's operation, and not the speaker!

Most transcriptionists work in a standard format, whether that be tabular, tabbed, interviews shown as initials or full names etc. Again most are happy to work to your specifications, but the standard format might well be cheaper, so think carefully about whether you need something different or not. Find out what the standard format is in advance if it concerns you, and you may be able to adapt it to your needs.

Finally, give some serious thought to whether or not you need a verbatim transcription. Verbatim transcription includes every repeated word, every 'um' and 'erm', all those 'filler' phrases like 'you know' and 'know what I mean' that may be repeated a hundred times in one interview, and can also include pauses, coughs, throat clearing etc. if required. Needless to say, this takes longer. If the transcriptionist can filter out all this stuff the transcript is quicker. In my company the cheapest level is what we call 'intelligent verbatim' which cuts out all these fillers but leaves the rest exactly as it's spoken. Different transcriptionists work this differently though, so always check when you're phoning for your quote. You can find detailed information about our editing levels on our website.

There are, of course, occasions when verbatim is required - depending on your topic it might be required for legal reasons, or you might be studying the language. But if you really don't need it, don't end up paying for it!

And finally, remember that the cheapest transcription quote might not be the most affordable one in the end. There is an oft-quoted phrase: if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Will it really be cost-effective to send your hard-won interviews to the cheapest service if what comes back is gobbledygook and you have to go through the whole thing correcting every other word? How much time will you then waste that could have been spent more productively? Recommendation is always the ideal way to find a service, but if no one you know can recommend a transcription service then look for testimonials. A good company with a strong track record should always be able to provide these. If you're still not sure, ask questions and base your decision on the quality of the answers. Things you might like to ask are: turnaround time (when will you get the transcripts), confidentiality procedures, whether they have experience in your field, what the standard format is etc. Sphere: Related Content

Will advances in technology affect the future of the medical transcription profession?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions I see. Unfortunately, there are so many naysayers out there spreading their negativity and convincing people, who otherwise would have found a wonderful career, not to pursue it. I was very happy to see this question asked of David Clegg, Deputy Chairman of the Employment Security Commission in NC.

I had thought about becoming a medical transcriptionist, but I think they might be a dying breed due to technology advances. Do you agree? – Betty Normandin, Pinehurst

The health industry is going to be one of the most robust sectors of the economy. Medical transcription will be expected to grow as an occupational category but it is going to be one that will have to adapt to quickly changing technology. ESC data show that the occupation will grow about 2 percent a year. The average wage for that job now is around $35,000.

As I have been saying for the last few years, technology is not perfect but medical reports do have to be perfect. There is just too much that computers cannot take into account such as the many different accents, editing of grammar, proper formatting, etc. MTSO’s as well as medical transcriptionists will definitely have to adapt to new technology and we are. Things cannot, will not and should not stay the same. We are always evolving and those of us who can accept that and adapt to it, instead of fear it, will succeed.

Thanks so much to Betty Normandin for asking the question and to David Clegg for answering it so honestly.

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Top Ten Reasons to Outsource Medical Transcription

What is Outsourcing? Subcontracting. Support. Managed services. However you define it, outsourcing has become the hot, creative solution that is helping more and more hospital CFOs, Health Information Managers (HIMs), and owners of physician practices do more with less. Less money. Less time. Less resources.

In these challenging times of tight budgets, compressed deadlines, exploding amounts of information, and stringent compliance regulations, managing medical transcription yourself can cost you in more ways than one. That's why outsourcing medical tanscription has become such an attractive solution for so many.

While outsourcing medical transcription is not a new concept, it might be new to you. And when done correctly, it's a pain-free process that gives you the freedom to focus on more important things, like patient care. Please take a few minutes to read the Top 10 Reasons why it can help you now to outsource medical transcription --- and in the long run.

Reason 1: Eliminate Capital Investment with Medical Transcription Outsourcing

When you outsource your entire medical transcription process, you no longer have to own a dictation system or invest in a typing platform or worry about upgrading to the very latest equipment.

In fact, all your capital expenses for supporting dictation and transcription are greatly reduced because you no longer have to own or maintain them. And maintaining these systems and varying equipment can really cost you, with the average maintenance agreement costing upwards of 17% of equipment costs, annually. Even if you only partially outsource your medical transcription, you can still reduce your expenses and make your budget work harder for you.

Reason 2: With Medical Transcription Outsourcing, Manage Report Volume and Staffing Fluctuations

There are some things you just can't control, no matter how hard you try. Report volume and staffing are just two of them, as these variables fluctuate without warning. Having to react to these challenges at a moment's notice can bring your day, department, and transcription process to a screeching halt.

Not to mention how these gyrations can negatively affect your budget. By outsourcing all of your medical transcription --- or even just the overflow --- you can cost-effectively manage sharp increases in report volume or a shortage in staffing without having it impact your turnaround time, workflow, quality, or compliance.

Reason 3: Outsource Medical Transcription and Reduce Management Expenses

Whether you're a CFO, Health Information Manager, or head your own physician practice, managing medical transcription in-house can be a costly proposition. With so many vast, overlapping layers to manage --- from dictation and routing to transcription and archiving --- there are variables at every turn, eager to steal your time, attention, and budget dollars. By outsourcing all or part of your transcription process, you are free to concentrate on more important priorities and leave all the headaches and stringent demands to your outsourcing partner. Outsourcing also reduces the need for robust in-house staffing which results in additional cost savings for you.

Reason 4: Reduce Direct Labor Costs

If you are managing your medical transcription process in-house, then most likely you are also carrying direct labor costs that are putting a strain on your already tight budget. As an integral part of document creation, transcriptionists and coding specialists are imperative to the success of your medical transcription process. Yet, hiring such staff as Full-Time Employees (FTEs) means not only having to pay their salaries, but also having to provide them with benefits. By outsourcing all or part of your medical transcription process, you can gain greater control, streamline your staff, and greatly reduce or eliminate these expenses.

Reason 5: Improve Report Accessibility and Distribution with Medical Transcription Outsourcing

A major benefit of outsourcing your medical transcription is finding a solution that's web-based. Through a secure, password-protected process, one can log-on to a user-friendly interface, search, view, edit, and print reports --- from any computer with Internet capabilities. You can also distribute documents to multiple destinations with the touch of a button. Older technologies, such as dictaphones and tape, do not give you that kind of easy, immediate accessibility. And because the solution is web-based, it comes with powerful keyword search capabilities so you can easily retrieve what you want, when you want it. You'll also have access to an entire year's worth of records, not just the last month or so by outsourcing your medical transcription.

Reason 6: Reduce IT Responsibility

When you manage medical transcription in-house, it greatly impacts your IT department. Not only are they expected to manage and troubleshoot the various medical transcription platforms and technologies you own, but they often inherit the maintenance of your onsite equipment. In addition, they're expected to keep up with the latest technology demands and updates to keep the system running to the best of its abilities. By outsourcing your medical transcription, you not only free up your IT team to work on more important things, but you also rescue a vast amount of space on the server that was once dedicated to supporting your dictation system. It all adds up to a more efficient, productive IT team and a faster, leaner server.

Reason 7: Eliminate HR Transcription Staff Recruitment

It's no secret there's a domestic shortage of qualified, certified medical transcriptionists. And maintaining a pool of dependable prospects you can call at a moment's notice puts a definite strain on any already burdened Human Resources (HR) department. With so few qualified medical transcriptionists to choose from and the constant need to fill the hospital's pipeline with new prospects, HR is caught in a losing proposition --- trying to fulfill constant requests from the HIMs and looking at a shallow prospect pool. By outsourcing your medical transcription, you eliminate the constant cycle of unsuccessful recruitment efforts and the inefficiencies and lost man-hours they incur.

Reason 8: Improve Report Accuracy and Turnaround Time

When you manage your own medical transcription process, you are ultimately responsible for the accuracy and turnaround time. Are you able to stringently measure performance and impose penalties if quality levels are not met? You can if you outsource your medical transcription process. Outsourcing medical transcription services regularly document their accuracy and turnaround time rate, making sure they have metrics that prove they're meeting Quality Assurance levels. Many outsourcing services also provide performance guarantees right in their contracts, which range from productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness to quality, turnaround time, and resource utilization.

Reason 9: Shorten Account Receivable Cycle

One of the easiest ways to shorten the accounts receivable cycle is to streamline your medical transcription process. If you manage your own medical transcription, you are managing people, records, medical coding, HIPAA compliance, technology, turnaround time, and all the possible variables that come with it. By outsourcing your medical transcription, you greatly simplify workflow. What was once ten steps can be reduced to five. This allows you to better meet 24-hour and even 12-hour turnaround time, but also realize soft cost savings that can be very meaningful. And ultimately, shorten your accounts receivable cycle.

Reason 10: Take Advantage of a Single-source Medical Transcription Solution

When you have to piece together your own medical transcription process, the entire weight of the solution is on your shoulders. Researching the right technology, platform, equipment, and recruits. Working closely with IT, accounts receivable, and HR. Squeezing every penny in your budget. Struggling with HIPAA compliance. And dealing with the day-to-day problems, cost surprises, and emergencies that constantly crop up. By outsourcing your medical transcription process to a single source, you free yourself of the burden, save substantial money by consolidating all your services with one provider, and still maintain complete control of the process --- while ensuring all necessary standards of quality, turnaround time, and HIPAA compliance are met.

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Career in Medical Transcription Allows You to Earn Great Income from Home

The majority of Transdyne medical transcription graduates enjoy the comfort of working from their own homes, and even though most medical coding specialists currently work at medical offices or hospitals, current trends point to growing numbers of at-home positions for medical coders, as well.

Imagine all the benefits of working at home:

• Spend more time with your family!
• Raise your own children - no more daycare!
• Have freedom to set your own hours!
• Nobody looking over your shoulder!
• No long, costly commutes to the office!
• No need for expensive daycare!

If working at home is a "must" for you, please consider choosing medical transcription career training. People become motivated about medical transcription for many different reasons; they become MTs so they can work from home, earn great income, avoid long commutes and costly daycare, have job security in a growing market, or enjoy more quality time with family. Whatever your personal reasons for looking into medical transcription, know that Transdyne is your best resource for training, assistance, and support to prepare you to confidently step into a new career as a medical transcriptionist. Unless you have had the advantage of working from your home, you cannot imagine the FREEDOM that such a lifestyle gives you!

A medical transcriptionist is responsible for transcribing medical reports accurately.Any time there is an interaction with a medical professional and patient, doctors dictate information for a medical document. Medical transcription opportunities for new entry transcriptionists are rarely advertised on the internet or in newspapers but you will find plenty available.

For a few reasons, medical officials decided to go directly to medical transcription classes, training courses and schools that offer medical transcription job assistance.They look for students that have completed the courses and are competent. The key is competence.

By being competent, you are looking at a minimum typing speed of 60 words per minute (wpm), the faster, the better. Accuracy is even more important. Your accuracy will need to be 98% plus. Again the higher, the better.

Now don't be scared off just yet...

There are great programs you can use to increase your typing speed. And, good medical transcription colleges will aide you in achieving these levels with your determination and some hard work.Any medical experience you have, although not necessary, will certainly advantage you in your career in medical transcription. Demand for nurse medical transcriptionists is very high!

The thing is if you already have a strong understanding of medical terminology and you can reach the competence levels, you may well be accepted for work.

If you are wondering about the future of medical transcription then you can feel secure knowing that there is a strong and growing demand in the medical transcription industry for excellent transcriptionists.

The US Department of Labor says that medical transcription careers will have strong growth over the next several years.

The future for a career in medical transcription is extremely promising as the first of the Boomer's hit 65 in 2011. Those born during the baby boom years of 1946 to 1964 are aging and the demand for medical care is growing with their aging...

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Career in Medical Transcription Allows You to Earn Great Income from Home

The majority of Transdyne medical transcription graduates enjoy the comfort of working from their own homes, and even though most medical coding specialists currently work at medical offices or hospitals, current trends point to growing numbers of at-home positions for medical coders, as well.

Imagine all the benefits of working at home:

• Spend more time with your family!
• Raise your own children - no more daycare!
• Have freedom to set your own hours!
• Nobody looking over your shoulder!
• No long, costly commutes to the office!
• No need for expensive daycare!

If working at home is a "must" for you, please consider choosing medical transcription career training. People become motivated about medical transcription for many different reasons; they become MTs so they can work from home, earn great income, avoid long commutes and costly daycare, have job security in a growing market, or enjoy more quality time with family. Whatever your personal reasons for looking into medical transcription, know that Transdyne is your best resource for training, assistance, and support to prepare you to confidently step into a new career as a medical transcriptionist. Unless you have had the advantage of working from your home, you cannot imagine the FREEDOM that such a lifestyle gives you!

A medical transcriptionist is responsible for transcribing medical reports accurately.Any time there is an interaction with a medical professional and patient, doctors dictate information for a medical document. Medical transcription opportunities for new entry transcriptionists are rarely advertised on the internet or in newspapers but you will find plenty available.

For a few reasons, medical officials decided to go directly to medical transcription classes, training courses and schools that offer medical transcription job assistance.They look for students that have completed the courses and are competent. The key is competence.

By being competent, you are looking at a minimum typing speed of 60 words per minute (wpm), the faster, the better. Accuracy is even more important. Your accuracy will need to be 98% plus. Again the higher, the better.

Now don't be scared off just yet...

There are great programs you can use to increase your typing speed. And, good medical transcription colleges will aide you in achieving these levels with your determination and some hard work.Any medical experience you have, although not necessary, will certainly advantage you in your career in medical transcription. Demand for nurse medical transcriptionists is very high!

The thing is if you already have a strong understanding of medical terminology and you can reach the competence levels, you may well be accepted for work.

If you are wondering about the future of medical transcription then you can feel secure knowing that there is a strong and growing demand in the medical transcription industry for excellent transcriptionists.

The US Department of Labor says that medical transcription careers will have strong growth over the next several years.

The future for a career in medical transcription is extremely promising as the first of the Boomer's hit 65 in 2011. Those born during the baby boom years of 1946 to 1964 are aging and the demand for medical care is growing with their aging...

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Differences Between Medical Billing And Medical Transcription

When researching careers in medical billing or medical transcription, you’ll likely find certain similarities—both of these jobs usually require staff to work in a doctor’s office, hospital, medical center or dentist’s office, and both of these professions require knowledge of medical terms. The two professions have distinct roles that are often confused. The following is a quick reference guide outlining the differences between medical billers and medical transcriptionists.

Medical Billers

Responsibility

A medical biller manages the processing of medical bills in doctor’s offices, medical centers, hospitals, etc. Medical billing clerks review records and work with health insurance companies to calculate amounts due from patients.

Job Skills

Successful medical billers must understand medical terminology (including jargon and abbreviations), be proficient with computers and understand the latest industry and legal standards. A thorough comprehension of different insurance plans and accompanying governing laws/regulations is also necessary to any adept medical biller. Typically, post-secondary education is required for medical billing, and degrees are often offered through vocational schools, community colleges, or online training programs offered by online colleges and universities.

Salary

Reports suggests that medical billers with one to four years of experience earn an average salary of around $30,000. If they have five to nine years of experience, the average salary is more than $32,000.

Future Growth Opportunities

Numerous opportunities for trained individuals exist in medical offices, clinics, hospitals, insurance companies, and in form of freelance home-based businesses. Advancement opportunities are unlimited.The U.S. Department of Labor states that continued employment growth for medical coders and billers is spurred by the increased medical needs of an aging population and the number of health practitioners.



Medical Transcriptionist



Responsibility

An employee working in the medical transcription field is generally referred to as a medical transcriptionist or medical transcriber. The main role of a medical transcriptionist is to listen to dictated recordings made by healthcare professionals and subsequently transcribe that information into typewritten formats such as: medical history/physical examination reports, discharge summaries, consultation reports, referral letters, progress notes, operative reports, autopsy reports, and diagnostic imaging studies. These documents are then sent to the healthcare professional for review/signature or correction, after which they become a part of the patient’s permanent medical history.

Job Skills

To become a successful medical transcriptionist, a working knowledge of medical terminology (including jargon and abbreviations), computer proficiency, and comprehension of current industry and legal standards is required. Post-secondary education is generally required to obtain a medical transcriptionist position, and can be obtained through a career college, community college, or an online course offering.

Some additional skills important for medical transcriptionists include:

- Above average verbal communication, typing and memory skills

- Knowledge of math

- Detail-oriented

- Ability to follow verbal/written instructions

Salary

PayScale.com reports the average salary for a medical transcriptionist with one to four years of experience is more than $28,000. Medical transcriptionists with five to nine years of experience make on average close to $30,000.

Job Future

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the job outlook for medical transcriptionists looks optimistic. Medical transcription jobs are expected to increase by 14 percent between 2006 and 2016. Sphere: Related Content

Online Courses In Medical Transcription

Many medical transcriptionists telecommute from home-based offices, while others work in medical facilities such as hospitals, physicians' offices, or clinics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, facilities prefer to hire transcriptionists who have earned associate's degrees or completed certificate programs.

These degrees and certificates can be completed online. Online programs offer courses in anatomy, medical terminology, as well as English grammar and punctuation. For those already holding degrees, online refresher courses can keep transcriptionists updated and affirm their competence with the evolving world of medicine.

If you're thinking about enrolling in a medical transcription school but can't fit classes into your schedule, you might want to consider learning from an online school. To do this you need to know how to find a legitimate online medical transcription school.

A good online medical transcription school will offer the same type of classes as a brick-and-mortar school. For example, courses in medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, and ethics. Other courses a legitimate online medical transcription school will offer will include laboratory tests, medical procedures, and transcription formatting.

You will find some online schools in any field that will give a diploma or certificate for very little effort. Medical transcription takes a lot of memorization, which takes time. You must also get used to medical terminology. A respected online medical transcription school will not make false claims as to how quickly you will be ready to work. It will focus on teaching you the job well.

A legitimate online medical school will allow you to talk to graduates for references. Make sure you don't skip this step. Medical transcription training requires extensive transcription practice, and graduates can tell you if this is really what happened.

Don't choose to learn online because you think it will be easier than learning at a traditional school. A legitimate online medical school will be just as tough as any other school. The goal is to learn how to do your job right. A legitimate online course has to teach you what any other school teaches to prepare you for a job.

It is easier than ever to learn medical transcription through online courses. Just make sure you pick a school that offers the courses you need, and follow through with references. If you are certain that the coursework is comprehensive and the course will last at least a year, you are probably looking at a legitimate online medical school. Though the work will be tough, you will probably be glad you learned this way and be well on your way to a rewarding medical transcription career.

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Global Medical Transcription is in High Demand

Medical transcription outsourcing in the United States will remain in high demand due to new initiatives around the electronic patient record, as well as HIPAA regulations that demand that certain health records do not make their way overseas.Ultimately, hospitals and other healthcare providers need transcription information to be integrated into hospital systems so it feeds the overall information systems. Therefore, transcription companies need to embrace technologies (Web-based and otherwise) that will allow their customers to do so.

The benefits of being a medical transcriber are high pay, and relatively acceptable working hours. Since transcription only requires the voice recording, there is less need for graveyard shifts, unlike call center employees who have to match the work schedules of their offshore clients. The work also provides good working experience to those who are in the medical profession, as it serves as a means for them to learn more about their field even while working. Indeed, a major requirement for medical transcribers is basic medical knowledge.

Like never before, global medical transcription is in a strong period of growth. Opportunities abound for those who understand what is happening and are prepared to put the work in to make it happen.The medical transcription profession has opened up with work in many countries increasing.

There are still many countries around the world that do not utilize the advantages of using a national secure computerized system for health care.This is likely to change and as more countries develop systems, demand for the medical transcriptionist is likely to grow further.

Medical Transcription Canada is developed and one of the most popular places for transcriptionists. It is one of the most experienced countries in transcription work and one of the best places to gain the knowledge.

Medical transcription India is another county that is very popular as there is much work transcription with great opportunity to build your own business or gain the experience to some day have your own business.

Medical transcription India is a country that has immersed itself in technology and in the opportunity. Medical transcription services companies have popped up across the country.

There is a great opportunity to gain experience and in the future to have your own business.

USA medical transcription is by far the largest place in the world to perfect your transcription skills. There is so much opportunity in this country for the medical transcriptionist. Take a good look at the regions as pay rates vary greatly from one region to another.

Medical transcription Australia is a growing market with the government moving to a national computerized system for healthcare.

If you are interested in traveling around the world and working, medical transcription UK and Philippine medical transcription are other places with rising medical transcription.

Technology means everything can be learned from anywhere as long as you are prepared to study hard and have a broadband Internet connection.

You don’t have to have any experience if you really want to go places in global medical transcription. This fantastic industry will give you the life and freedom you are searching for! Sphere: Related Content

Medical Transcription Companies

One of the foremost organizations for medical transcriptionists in the world is the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), formerly the American Association for Medical Transcriptionists (AAMT). AHDI was established in 1978 to obtain recognition for medical transcriptionists’ contributions toward patient safety and more accurate medical records. The association feels that medical transcriptionists are a vital asset to the preservation and safety of all patients and that the profession will improve the quality of care. AHDI has been a large promoter for further legislation and regulation for healthcare documentation and information. The association feels the bar has been set for MT education and it follows the most modern trends in the ever-changing industry.

The field of medical transcription (MT) has been continuously growing since its start several decades ago. As the medical profession grows in importance and necessity, so does the MT job market. Today there are hundreds of companies, on both the local and national level, that offer jobs as an MT to individuals interested in jumping on board.

Due to huge time constraints and the lack of one-on-one contact between doctors and their patients, medical transcriptionists have been sought out to create and maintain patients’ permanent files in order to decrease busy work for medical professionals and increase the quality of the documents. The profession is progressively growing and the job market is filled with open spots for skilled and well-trained MTs.

According to the AHDI web page, individuals who are interested in a career as an MT should research the profession fully and be able to understand all of the requirements before deciding on that career path. The organization offers several links that help answer any questions about medical transcription and choosing the right education program that is specific to the individual’s needs. AHDI also offers advice, networking, and job opportunities to anyone who joins the organization.Another organization that is hoping to aid in the advancement of medical transcription is the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA). MTIA has been working in conjunction with AHDI to better the medical transcription industry and provide better health records for the world. The MTIA is a non-profit trade association that represents medical transcription companies, vendors, and health professionals. MTIA, according to the web page, is the largest MT organization in the world. The association offers several membership options, which range from “general” to “associate,” and are said to employ over 12,000 MT professionals. Through MTIA, individuals will have access to thousands of vendor suppliers through a transcription service finder, which will give the added advantage of networking through the site. MTIA also sponsors events and conferences annually to keep current MTs up-to-date and in the know about the latest medical transcription trends.

There is an incredibly helpful website called MT Daily that lists all MT companies according to the state in which they are located. The providers consist of vendors, companies, and independent contractors who are looking for a skilled MT. Many of the companies offer both long- and short-term positions. The site also provides links to other popular search engines like Monster and NationJob. MT Daily allows easy access to several national companies like C and C Transcription, HealthScribe, MEDGARDE,Transdyne and Transcription Solutions. Around thirty percent of MTs do work from home, so the site also gives listings of job opportunities that can be completed outside of the office.

With the abundance of online resources, along with well-respected organizations like AHDI and MTIA, the medical transcription industry is steadily becoming a large presence in the medical field. Not only are there numerous jobs for MTs, but there are also many organizations that are advocating for the profession, which is earning more respect in the medical field year after year.

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Medical Transcription: How it is beneficial to medical practitioners and medical companies

Today’s world is a world of competition. You will find tough competition in almost all business industries. Nowadays medical transcription industry is growing as fast as anyone. Therefore healthcare professionals want their medical reports to be translated into text format in order to save time and money. Here, Medical transcription process comes into play.

Medical transcription is a process of writing whatever the doctor or medical practitioner says in a text or document format after doctor examines the patient. These pre-recorded medical words from healthcare professionals are translated in the form of a document or any other text format by professional medical transcriptionists. This process can be done at any place according to the medical professional’s convenience by using remote transmission technologies. It saves precious time of doctors and helps them in concentrating on their practice.

Medical transcription services provide number of advantages to Medicare companies, such as:
• Faster turnaround time
• Higher accuracy
• Improved workflow

Even in hospitals, they have to keep necessary documents of patients or say they have to maintain medical records. Medical transcriptionist transcribes dictations or recordings into a text record. These are then maintained in two ways, either as soft copy or as hard copy. But in today’s IT enabled world, soft copies or EMR (Electronic Medical Report) are more used than traditional medical documents as they are easier to maintain.

Medical transcriptionist is responsible for creating these reports. So it is obvious that he must be very well aware of medical terminology. He should be careful that medical records prepared by him should follow medical transcription standards. Some of these standards are AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity), MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) etc.

In medical transcription process, medical transcriptionist also takes care of current medical industry. He constantly updates himself by researching latest medical tools, medical language and equipments. Thus he keeps providing best results to medical professionals and medical companies.

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How to Choose the Right Medical Transcription Training Program

When it comes to choosing the best Medical Transcription training program for oneself, it can be a very confusing a frustrating experience.

How do you know what a quality program and school looks like? There are so many advertisements out there and they all look great and promise great things. One of the things we really don't want to do is to pick a school that, when we go looking for that first job, turns out not to be one that the transcription employers look favorably on!

So how to choose?

Here are some guidelines you can use to help ensure you are picking the right training program for yourself. These guidelines are recommended by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI):

1. The program should be taught by qualified instructors who are credentialed experts in their respective fields.
2. The program should employ certified medical transcriptionists to teach medical transcription practice courses.The experienced pros will be able to give you all kinds of assistance and show you tips and tricks that someone who has merely studied cannot.
3. The program should indicate the number of classroom hours students actually perform medical transcription.
4. The program should indicate the number of minutes of actual physician dictation used for practice (The Model Curriculum recommends 30 dictated hours of actual physician dictation.)It is all right to start out with dictation not done by physicians for getting a feel for it, but you MUST have actual physician-dictated material to work with, or you will be lost when you get in the real world!
5. Will the school provide names and addresses of former students as references?Contact them. Find out what they liked, and didn't like.
6. Does the school have an advisory board? Does it include certified medical transcriptionists?
7. The program should indicate length of externship or on-the-job experience available (The Model Curriculum recommends 10 dictated hours of authentic physician dictation, for a total of 40 dictated hours during the training program.)
8. It should include relevant publications among its educational materials.
9. The school should use the AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription, 2nd edition in its training curriculum.
10. The program should be based on The Model Curriculum for Medical Transcription*, 3rd edition, published by AHDI, which recommends courses in the following:
• English grammar and punctuation
• Medical language
• Anatomy and physiology
• Disease processes
• Pharmacology and laboratory medicine
• Transcription technology
• Medical transcription practice
• Healthcare records
11. Privacy, ethics, and other medicolegal issues
12. Lastly, the school should offer job placement assistance. This can be invaluable! What a relief to know that the school, with all its business contacts, is in your corner helping you find that all-important first job!

As you can see, there is a lot more to choosing the right medical transcription training program than you might think at first. But if you stick to the guidelines presented here, you have a great chance to end up in a good program.

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Discussion Of A Medical Transcriptionist’s Love For Words And Medical References

There are two things in particular a Medical Transcriptionist is most known for. Those are:

•A love of words
•Their use of medical references

Unlike many years ago, today there are volumes of excellent reference books and software available for the Medical Transcriptionist, most of which can easily be found online, in software and in print. Some of the medical reference materials include:

•Medical dictionaries
•Medical specialty word and phrase references
•Medical abbreviation references
•Medical style manuals

Each of these references fulfills a particular need for the Medical Transcriptionist. The medical dictionary provides definitions to know the difference between similar-sounding words. Medical dictionaries do not contain many of the specialty words, abbreviations, and surgical instruments.

Medical specialty word and phrase references contain terms from one medical specialty and include slang, surgical instruments, drugs, new and unusual terms, abbreviations, and laboratory tests for that particular specialty.

Medical abbreviation references contain common and unusual abbreviations and their definitions from all medical specialties.

Medical style manuals offer suggestions on how to format reports, punctuation, grammar and spelling medical reports.

A regular “word” dictionary is also a must and a staple of the Medical Transcriptionist’s library of reference materials. Physicians often have an extensive vocabulary and will dictate English words that are new to the Medical Transcriptionist.

The following is a list of medical references that should form the basics of a library for Medical Transcription students and practitioners:

•Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary
•Stedman’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary
•Current Medical Terminology
•The Medical Word Book
•Medical Phrase Index
•Word and phrase reference books published by Health Professions Institute in the specialties of Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics/Neurology, Pathology, Psychiatry, and Radiology
•A standard English dictionary such as Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
•American Drug Index
•Physicians’ Desk Reference
•Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book

If Medical Transcriptionists get stumped on a drug question and cannot locate the answer in her library of reference books, he or she can always seek help from a pharmacist. Pharmacists often have a wealth of information they rarely ever use and most are glad to help a Medical Transcriptionists with questions about drugs.

A Medical Transcriptionist or student should never be without up-to-date reference sources. Regardless of how much I find online or in software, I still like a shelf of books in print.

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The Latest Medical Transcription Tools In The Year Of 2007

The USB foot pedal and transcriber software is the latest in medical transcription industry technology. This of course replaces the desktop transcriber and floor foot pedal that used a cassette tape for recording and playing physician dictation. Headset with earphones is still used.

The minimum system requirements most employers prefer home based medical transcribers to operate are:

•Desktop or laptop PC running Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Medial Center Edition, XP Pro or VISTA
•Most employers prefer PCs. Future work environments and MT products may not support Macs.
•CD-RW drive or CD-Rom drive that is able to read CD-RW disks or DVD drives
•128 RAM or higher
•Sound card – SoundBlaster compatible, 16-bit or higher
•Hard disk space – Minimum 250 MB hard disk space
•USB (Universal Serial Bus) port
•Single-prong headset (earphones)
•Computer with updated antivirus software is mandatory

The Medical Transcriptionist today will need to have a good understanding of MS word or Wordperfect word processing programs and basic computer skills.

Internet Access is required. Knowledge of email is required. An English dictionary is always a staple in the library of a Medical Transcriptionist.

Formal education either through distance and home study programs or on site Medical Transcription schools, business colleges and many Universities now offer full programs in Medical Transcription. Formal education is definitely an asset.

The basic admission requirements for most Medical Transcription Schools and programs include:

•High school diploma or equivalent
•Ability to work independently
•English comprehension
•Spelling and usage competency (spoken and written) equivalent to that of a high school graduate
•Intermediate word processing skills with ability to create, save, format, copy and paste documents
•Intermediate computer skills including ability to troubleshoot basic computer problems, install software, manage files, send and receive emails with attachments and utilize the Internet for research purposes
•Normal hearing acuity

Before you choose a school or home study program take note of whether or not they have a job placement program after graduation.

After formal training and throughout your career in Medical Transcription, you should continue your education through professional memberships and certifications. The Certified Medical Transcriptionist can be acquired through the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (formerly American Association for Medical Transcription or AAMT). Certification is achieved upon successful completion of their examination.

In addition to professional memberships and certification there is absolutely nothing like continuing to learn by actually “doing.” Everyday transcribing medical dictation is a new day of education in the field of Medical Transcription.

Where are the Employment Opportunities in Medical Transcription? They include:

•Hospitals and clinics
•Pharmaceutical companies
•Nursing homes
•Physician’s offices
•Visiting nurse services
•Home-based independents
•Surgical centers
•Hospice programs
•Rehabilitation centers
•Chiropractic centers
•Physical therapy groups
•Transcription services
•HMOs & PROs
•Dental Offices

You can expect to earn anywhere from $25,000 upwards depending upon the area in which you live, the sector you work in, the method of compensation, and your unique skills. An accurate and speedy Medical Transcriptionist can expect to earn an excellent income and the outlook for this profession continues to look extremely positive.

Technology will continue to create easier and more effective ways to work, however, I do not believe the human behind the equipment will ever be replaced. Medical transcription is probably here to stay and is a secure career choice.

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Medical Transcription Tips For Word Searching

Word searching is locating the medical word that is correct both in spelling and meaning. This is a Medical Transcription skill that takes time and practice to develop.

Tip #1:

If you find yourself unable to locate a medical word in your reference books, it might be the word has an initial letter different than the sound or initial letter you hear. For example, the v sounds very much like that of f, the letter m may actually be an x (xiphoid) and the k might be ch (ischemic).

In addition, medical terms that contain silent letters such as euthyroid, herniorrhaphy, pneumonia or words frequently mispronounced such as menstruation present a unique challenge for the Medical Transcriptionist.

Experience is often more the teacher in using available resources. The longer you remain a Medical Transcriptionist, the more proficient you will become in determining sound-alikes and locating terms with silent letters.

Tip #2:

When you are unable to locate a phrase under a particular entry, look under a related entry.

Tip #3:

When you hear a phrase you cannot understand, look first under the noun and not the adjective. Nouns usually follow adjectives. An example: If you are looking for bullous emphysema, look under emphysema (the noun) and not bullous. To find particular diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, look under disease.

An exception to the above tip is that in Latin phrases, the noun is followed by the adjective such as “fascia lata,” and “ligamentum flavum.” You would look under the first word with Latin phrases. Bacterial names are another exception in that the genus is given first, followed by the species: Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

If you exhaust all you know to do when word searching on the job, a Medical Transcriptionist should:

1.seek another transcriptionist’s opinion
2.refer to the patient’s chart
3.contact the dictating physician for clarification
4.leave a blank in the report and attach a note so that the dictator may insert the correct word

If you leave a blank in the report, you should flag the report by attaching a note with a paperclip. The note should list all blanks left in the report, and giving as many details as possible for ease of identification such as page and line number. The Medical Transcriptionist may also give a phonetic spelling of what the word or words sounded like to assist the dictator in filling in the blank or blanks.

The main thing to remember about word searching is to never guess at a word. A blank in the medical report does not reflect poorly on the Medical Transcriptionist who thoroughly researched for the words and exhausted all else before leaving the blank. Leaving a blank is the correct thing to do. Integrity and accuracy of the medical report is much more important than presenting documents that never leave blanks.

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Medical Transcription Proofreading Tips

The correct attitude for a Medical Transcriptionist should be one of independence and responsibility for his or her work. Medical Transcriptionists function with a minimum of direct supervision. The majority do have an immediate supervisor “somewhere” responsible for quality control. Working as a professional Medical Transcriptionist means to take pride in the accuracy and completeness of your work. A professional gains satisfaction from a job well done.

Excellent proofreading skills are critical for a Medical Transcriptionist. Proofreading is looking for mistakes of all types in a transcribed document and correcting them. The most common errors a Medical Transcriptionist will be looking for include:

• Omission of important dictated words
• Selecting the wrong English or medical word
• Misspelling words
• Typographical errors
• Grammatical errors
• Punctuation errors

Proofreading skills will improve with practice. You will know what your areas of weaknesses are as you proofread and find your errors. If you find that you miss few medical words, but misspell many English words, you can improve by paying particular interest in English words as you transcribe and proofread dictation.

Consider the following four-step method to help you achieve the best results from your proofreading:

1. Look words up in reference books as you encounter them. Don’t wait until the end of the report. You will have forgotten how some of the words sounded. Search until you find and don’t go any further in your medical transcribing until you find the words you get stumped on. Leave a blank if you exhaust all resources and still cannot find your word.

2. Briefly proofread what you transcribe as it appears on the screen of your word processor or the paper you are typing on. This will help you catch missed words and typographical errors as they occur. Print out your reports on paper if you are using a word processor. It is easier to proofread the printed report on paper than it is on the screen.

3. If you just cannot find a word, leave a blank of an appropriate length, according to how long or short the word sounds. Attach a flag (a flag is a sheet of paper clipped to the report or a sticky note placed on the report which identifies all blanks, which lines of the report they are located on, and what the dictated word sounded like to you.

4. Use a medical or English spellchecker as the final step in proofreading. Spellcheckers will not catch errors such as transcribing no instead of not or transcribing ilium instead of ileum.

Excellent proofreading skills come only after continual practice to perfect. Consider the following tips:

• To avoid omitting important dictated words adjust the speed control on the transcriber unit and transcribe slowly to assure no dictated words are overlooked. Slowly increase your speed of the tape, which will increase transcription speed as you learn to keep up with the dictator.

• The tape recording (if you are transcribing from a tape) does not perfectly reproduce the human voice. Sometimes the words and phrases sound garbled or something quite different from what they really are. A Medical Transcriptionist should never transcribe what he or she “thinks” they hear. You should transcribe only what makes sense in the context of the report. Careful word searching and careful attention to word definitions help the Medical Transcriptionist to avoid selecting the wrong English or medical word. The wrong medical word can convey a wrong diagnosis for a patient. The error can be carried in the patient’s permanent medical record and cause extreme havoc and chaos. The professional Medical Transcriptionist NEVER transcribes anything that does not make sense and/or cannot be verified in a reference book. In other words, don’t just make up a word either just to fill in all the blanks. It is better to leave a blank.

• Misspelling of medical and English words can be avoided by careful proofreading and using a spellchecker.

• Typographical errors are usually the result of carelessness or attempts to type too fast rather than focusing on accuracy. Careful proofreading will eliminate typographical errors.

• Grammatical errors are hard to catch while transcribing and must be identified through careful proofreading.

• Punctuation errors can actually change the medical meaning of a sentence. Keep your punctuation references within easy reach.

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