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Medical Transcriptionist Jobs – What is the Job of a Medical Transcription Employment? What Does Certified Medical Transcription Work Involve?

Medical transcriptionists transcribe dictations that are created by physicians, by listening to voice recordings on a headset. Medical transcription jobs use a foot petal in order to pause and rewind the recording, typing up the report on a word processor, editing it for clarity and grammar.

Medical transcriptionists will work all types of medical reports, including discharges, physical examinations, operative reports, autopsy reports, and consultation reports. After transcribing these medical reports, a certified medical transcriptionist will then return them to the physicians so that they can be reviewed and corrected. The physicians then make these documents part of their permanent files.

While the job of the medical transcriptionist may sound easy, these individuals must know an incredible vocabulary of medical terminology, such as pharmacology, treatment options, anatomy, physiology, and they must know medical abbreviations and their full forms.

Most medical transcriptionist training starts out using medical dictionaries, eventually progressing to the point where they do not need them. Advanced medical transcriptionists will be able to no mistakes in a report and may correct the information that a doctor has dictated.

Most medical transcription jobs involve receiving data files over the Internet which are to be dictated, and speech recognition technology is growing in popularity, although these programs frequently make mistakes and must be proof read for errors.

While most medical transcriptionist careers now involve working at home with the advent of the Internet, some still work in hospitals and physicians offices. Hospital medical transcriptionists may perform many of the same responsibilities as administrative assistants, such as answering telephones and scheduling appointments in their off time.

Working Conditions for Medical Transcriptionist Jobs – How is the Working Environment for Medical Transcription Job Openings?

The working environment of a medical transcription job is usually a 40 hour workweek, with a very low stress environment. The stress of typing for a long period of time can induce carpal tunnel syndrome. Most medical transcriptionists do not have to leave their home in order to dictate their reports.

Medical Transcriptionist Schools Education – How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist – How to Receive Your Education at a Certified Medical Transcriptionist Job

Medical transcription schools typically involve either a two year associate’s degree program or a certificate program which is done at home. Accreditation is not needed in order to become a medical transcriptionist, but it is offered through the Approval Committee for Certificate Programs.

Certified Medical Transcription Careers – How to Become Certified at a Medical Transcription School

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity offers two levels of medical transcriptionist certification, including the registered medical transcriptionist and the certified medical transcriptionist designations

Other skills that transcriptionists should have include a clear grasp of English language and grammar, in addition to skills with word processing and computer software. An ability to discern different accents and voice intonations is a plus.

Outlook for Medical Transcriptionist Jobs – What is the Future of Medical Transcriptionist Employment?

Over the next decade, medical transcription employment should grow by about 14%. The demand for medical transcribing is the result of an aging American population, and the increased need for electronic documentation that can be shared over health information system networks.

Some of the medical transcription jobs has been outsourced to country such as India and the Philippines, however, due to the intricacies of the English language, these jobs act as supplements as opposed to replacements for American medical transcriptionists.

Speech recognition technology does present a threat to the work of a medical transcriptionist, however, speech recognition software is difficult to train and has a hard time analyzing human language.

Medical Transcriptionist Salary Pay Scale – How Much Does Medical Transcriptionist Work Earn?

In 2006, the median earnings of medical transcriptionists came to $14.40 an hour. Some transcriptionists are independent contractors and therefore must pay their own self employment insurance, while others work for hospitals and receive some benefits.