Medical Transcriptionists Career

The work of a medical transcriptionist is listening to dictated recordings created by health care professionals such as physicians. Furthermore, they transcribe these recordings into medical reports, correspondence, and deal with other administrative materials. Generally, medical transcriptionists listen to recordings on a headset and use foot pedal to pause the recordings when required. They record the text into a personal computer and edit the data as required for clarity and grammar.

Job Prospect
Medical transcriptionists produce documents including medical history, discharge summaries, referral letters, physical examination report, progress notes, consultation reports, operative reports, diagnostic imaging studies, and autopsy reports. The work of medical transcriptionists is to return transcribed documents to the physician. They may return these documents to other health care professionals who dictate them for assessment, correction, or signature. These transcribed documents finally become an important part of permanent files of patients.

A medical transcriptionist ought to know medical anatomy, terminology, diagnostic procedures, physiology, treatment assessments, and pharmacology in order to understand and transcribe accurately dictated reports. Medical transcriptionists should be able to translate medical abbreviations and jargons into expanded forms. Medical transcriptionists recommend standard medical reference materials in order to understand terms appropriately.

A medical transcriptionist should go along with precise standards that may apply to the style of ethical requirements, medical records, and legal requirements to keep patients' information confidential. An experienced transcriptionist makes out inconsistencies or mistakes in a medical report and corrects the information.

Many health care providers move dictation to medical transcriptionists using analog or digital dictating equipment. These professionals use internet in order to transmit documentation. Some of the transcriptionists receive dictation over the internet and return transcribed documents quickly to clients for approval. These workers use speech recognition technology that electronically translates sound into text as well as produces drafts of reports. Consequently, transcriptionists format the reports, edit the report for mistakes in punctuation, translation, and grammar, and verify for consistency.

Medical transcriptionists who work in specialties such as pathology or radiology with standardized terminology use speech recognition technology. However, speech recognition technology may become more acceptable across the world. A medical transcriptionist who serves in physicians' offices may carry out other office duties such as scheduling appointments, receiving patients, dealing with outgoing and incoming mails, and answering the telephone.

Work Environment
Many of the workers are hired in the comfortable settings such as physicians' offices, hospitals, clinics, transcription service offices, government medical facilities, medical libraries, laboratories, etc. Some of the medical transcriptionists communicate on the telephone from their home-based offices.

Generally, workers have to sit in the same position for long hours. They may suffer back, wrist, eye, or neck problems due to risk and strain repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. Sometimes, the steady pressure to be productive and accurate can be stressful. Most medical transcriptionists work forty hours a week. However, some self-employed medical transcriptionists work irregular hours comprising of weekends, evenings, part-time, and at times on calls.

Responsibilities

Educational Qualification
Candidates who have completed postsecondary training in medical transcription and have sound knowledge of computer and its applications are preferred by the employers. There are may distance learning programs, community colleges, and vocational schools offering postsecondary programs.

Candidates who have completed one year certificate program or a two-year associate degree including coursework in medical terminology, anatomy, and legal issues associated to health care documentation have good job prospect. The knowledge of English grammar and punctuation is highly recommended, however, not always required. Some of these programs consist of well supervised on the job training.

Advancement
Upon gaining ample experience in this field, a medical transcriptionist may advance to supervisory positions, editing, home based work, teaching, and consulting. Some of the professionals own medical transcription businesses. With the help of additional training or education, some transcriptionists become health information and medical records technicians, medical coders, and health information administrators. Employment in medical transcriptionists is predicted to grow faster than the average. Candidates who are certified may have good career opportunities.


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