Medical Transcription From Home

How to get home based medical transcription work.
How To Become A Transcriptionist?
How do you become a transcriptionist? People are asking me this question often.

When looking into becoming a transcriptionist, people are getting conflicting answers regarding the requirements to becoming a transcriptionist. Some sites mention that you just have to be proficient at grammar and spelling to get a transcription job. Some sites say you only have to be slightly knowledgeable of medical terms for medical transcribing jobs. That’s an understatement. Other sites are telling you that you can get all your medical transcription training done in about 4 months.

So, that is the truth?

First, you have to realize that there are many industries that can provide you with transcription work from home. Different companies, industries and clients have different transcription requirements. Different transcription schools provide different length and quality of training.

For all types of transcription, you need to have excellent English, grammar and typing skills, be able to listen what is being said and understand and transcribe or type those words.

Medical transcription does not give you immediate work at home. Medical transcriptionists have to be familiar with medical terminology and procedures.  Medical transcription requires extensive training and knowledge of medical terminology and most employers will require that you’ve worked at least two years in a medical office before allowing you to work from home.  It is almost impossible to get a medical transcription job from home if you're a new medical transcriptionist. Either you'll need to have two years of experience in medical transcription or have worked in the medical field (like being a nurse). Some classes may replace the transcription experience requirements.

Legal transcription requires specialized training as well.

General transcription is the quickest, easiest type of transcription to start with.  You don’t need any specialized training for general transcription and business transcription.  You can learn general transcription yourself by practicing.  If you need to increase your typing speed and accuracy, you can take online typing tutorials.

You can get started with general transcription immediately. General transcription is typing or transcribing any kind of dictation that is not medical or legal. You can transcribe interviews, meetings, telephone conversations, seminars, voicemail messages, memos, letters a variety of documents and more.

I you’re open to any kind of transcription work instead of medical transcription only, and want to get a transcription  job that you can work at home, and set your own hours, then you have several options for transcription jobs from home. Which kind of transcription work is right for you depends on your preference and the amount of transcription training you want to get.

There is a lot of talk and concerns about medical transcription jobs and how speech recognition software and overseas outsourcing of transcription work may be taking away transcription jobs.

Here's what the US Department of Labor states on their web site:

"Contracting out transcription work overseas and advancements in speech recognition technology are not expected to significantly reduce the need for well-trained medical transcriptionists. Outsourcing transcription work abroad—to countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines, Barbados, and Canada—has grown more popular as transmitting confidential health information over the Internet has become more secure; however, the demand for overseas transcription services is expected only to supplement the demand for well-trained domestic medical transcriptionists. In addition, reports transcribed by overseas medical transcription services usually require editing for accuracy by domestic medical transcriptionists before they meet U.S. quality standards.

Speech recognition technology allows physicians and other health professionals to dictate medical reports to a computer, which immediately creates an electronic document. In spite of the advances in this technology, the software has been slow to grasp and analyze the human voice, the English language, and the medical vernacular with all its diversity. As a result, there will continue to be a need for skilled medical transcriptionists to identify and appropriately edit the inevitable errors created by speech recognition systems and to create a final document."

I totally agree with the above statements. Speech recognition software will create additional jobs. Because the software does not transcribe accurately and transcription work that is outsources to foreign countries is not accurate either, you already start seeing more job posting for transcription editors to edit the work of transcriptionists. Many people report enjoying transcription editing work.

Labels: speech recognition software, the outlook for transcription jobs, transcription editors, transcription jobs
The Future of Medical Transcription Jobs
Some people are concerned about future of medical transcription jobs and general transcription jobs. You should not be concerned about future transcription job opportunities.

The job prospects for transcription jobs are good. Here's what the United States Department of Labor says on their web site about the future for medical transcription jobs.

"Job opportunities will be good, especially for those who are certified. Hospitals will continue to employ a large percentage of medical transcriptionists, but job growth will be in other industries. An increasing demand for standardized records should result in rapid employment growth in physicians' offices, especially in large group practices."

Job Opportunities for home based Medical Transcription

Home based Medical Transcription Job opportunities are expected to grow faster than average for the next several years. Health care facilities continue to expand, and employment opportunities should expand with them.

Settings for work in this field are varied. Medical transcription job opportunities include working in hospitals or physician's offices. Government medical facilities provide another option for job seekers. Individuals looking for work in this field can also look in diagnostic laboratories, business support services, and transcription service offices. MT job opportunities can be found anywhere there is medical need.

Medical transcription employment is not restricted to offices. Many transcriptionists work from home . Some work as contracted freelancers and have varied hours. Others work as employees of hospitals or clinics who allow their transcriptionists to telecommute . The internet can be used to receive and send transcription, making it possible to work from any location.

An aging population requires more health care . More health care services coupled with the need for electronic documentation insures continued medical transcription job opportunities.

Pay for medical transcription jobs ranges from approximately $10.00 an hour to about $20.00 per hour. Pay can be based on an hourly rate or a production rate. Some medical transcription jobs are paid an hourly rate with bonuses for high production.

Medical transcription opportunities include the chance for advancement. After gaining experience, transcriptionists can move into editing or consulting. They can also teach.

If you are looking for a career in a growing field that offers the ability to advance or to work from home , consider medical transcription . It's difficult in this day to find careers that are not threatened by layoffs, but the future looks bright with medical billing jobs. Outsourcing to other countries is expected to be limited in this field, and increasing medical demands will only make these jobs more secure.

For individuals who are independent, career-oriented, and enjoy the medical field, explore medical transcription . It might just be what you've been looking for.

Medical Transcription – A Recession Proof Industry

Recession, pay cuts, layoffs = these are some of the common phrases that one is given to hear lately. While the recession has taken toll in the global financial spectrum leading to job cuts, layoffs, etc., in Software, Financial institutions, manufacturing, etc., healthcare field is still forging ahead through the trying times. From an outsourcing perspective from US, the recession has not affected the field of Medical Transcription in any meaningful way and is, in fact, burgeoning with more and more career opportunities.

Medical transcription which is also known as MT is the process of transcribing or converting recorded dictations by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals usually located in US regarding a patient’s medical record into a written text. Medical transcription follows prescribed and established document formats and is highly dependent upon trained professional, known as Medical Transcriptionists. Specialized knowledge for Medical Transcription includes the ability to correctly spell often difficult medical words, as well as a working knowledge of general medical terminology.

Medical Transcription is a highly specialized skill, which requires a high degree of training and dedication and proficiency in English language. Medical transcriptionists benefit greatly from on-the-job experience, and especially by handing records from a wide variety of medical specialties.

Recession-proof, Medical Transcription is one of the fastest growing fields in healthcare industry. Medical Transcriptionists are in demand in Western countries especially in the US where the entire healthcare industry is based on insurance and detailed medical records are needed for processing insurance claims. Medical transcription is one of the fast growing IT-enabled services in India as well, with the rapid change in Indian healthcare and privatization of the insurance sector. India provides an ideal location for conducting medical transcription with the large population of educated English speaking people and the comparative low cost which encourages companies abroad to outsource their work to the Indian Medical Transcription field. There are a few companies who provide Medical Transcription training in India to meet the current demand of experienced MT professionals.

In India, there was a boom in this industry couple of years back with a lot of companies and training institutes entering this field. Most companies except a few could not survive due to lack of proper training and understanding of this comparatively new concept in India. By improving the work standards and quality of service, India has a wide scope for capturing the huge clientele in the US and provide employment opportunities to the huge mass of English speaking and computer literate people in the country. The success of the surviving companies proves that Medical transcription can hold a vital link in altering the Indian job scenario.

Despite the global economic downtrend, the Medical Transcription industry is looking for a further growth buoyed by a report of the NASSCOM stating that recession has not hit the healthcare industry. Reverse is the trend in Medical Transcription outsourcing in US, which is going through attrition in large scale in IT, financial, manufacturing and other sectors.

As per a NASSCOM report, the MT industry will be worth Rs 40 billion by 2010 and could employ as many as 50,000 people.

It estimated the size of the US MT industry, which is in the range of around $ 12 million in 2005, would reach $ 16.8 billion by 2010. The work offshored was expected to be in the region of $ 860 million in 2010, of which India is expected to capture $ 647 million. India remained a preferred offshore destination primarily due to availability of manpower and industry maturity.

While it does not require any specialized IT skills, it requires primary skills like good listening and English language skills in terms of language proficiency – not necessarily fluency to talk – knowledge of medical terms in addition to the basic knowledge to handle computer. Good typing speed would be added advantage.

For an experienced medical transcriptionist, the current economic downturn could be reminiscent of the dot com bust that happened almost 10 years ago. The mood was quite grim at the time like it is now. As discussed above, the current meltdown, however, did not affect medical transcription in any way and most medical transcriptionists had jobs or work as usual.

Until a couple of months ago, pre-recession, MT had to witness many MT professionals changing their career thereby preferring Software and other BPO sectors to earn more. However, with the unforeseen recession hitting at he above sectors, MT also witnessed many people who chose to quit coming back and joining back in MT.

The benefits of Medical Transcription as a career include the ability and freedom to work from home, especially for ladies who may not be able to come to office and work, especially pregnant women who may not be able to come to office and work during their maternity leave, etc. There is a good number of people currently enjoying the benefit of working from home and still earning around 25-30k average and as high as 50k to 60 k as well. The recent liberalization of Internet in terms of cost and bandwidth and other related technologies like 3G has accelerated the potential from working from home in an hassle-free environment. In light of the recent liberalization of Internet, it gives the ability to work even from remote parts of the country. A PC with decent configuration, a stereophonic headset, foot pedal (a device that controls the voice player), and other softwares necessary for reference of medical terms/drugs are more than that would suffice to independently work as a Medical Transcriptionist.

Future Outlook For Medical Transcription

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the future outlook for medical transcription looks good. This is a lucrative, in demand-career with great growth opportunities.

If you're considering a medical transcription course or are already taking one, this is good news. It means you will have plenty of employment as well as financial opportunities.

Although, medical transcription is predicted to grow and remain stable, there are a few common concerns among the MT community.

These are the most common.

Will voice recognition replace transcriptionists?

There has been talk for a long time about voice recognition and new software which will replace the jobs of MTs. This will not affect you any time soon. There are a number of growing issues and concerns with this software. It is not being used in a large setting and has not yet replaced the need for medical transcription on the whole.

Medical terminology is complex and the regulations for patient records are stricter than ever. At present, the most accurate way to transcribe these records is by trained MTs.

According to the Medical Records Institute, which actually promotes the use of computerized medical records, current research shows use of speech recognition in the medical fields is less than 1%.

What about offshore transcription companies?

Some companies are using offshore transcription companies to save money. However, while outsourcing medical transcription to offshore companies can save money, many companies are not following this route.

There are various concerns and issues with outsourcing to offshore companies. Offshore MT companies are not required to comply with HIPPA regulations. This means they don't follow the HIPPA security and privacy guidelines to safeguard medical records.

In some cases it can be done, but mandatory agreements required by HIPPA guidelines must be signed. And precautions must be taken so that data isn't sent overseas. The overseas vendors must log on to U.S. database to do their work, which means extra systems and measures must be put in place. This can be expensive and time consuming.

Although, some companies may find the need for saving money is worth these risks, most won't.

However, although the future of MT looks promising, times HAVE changed. MTs of today should start adapting to the ever changing business technology around them.

The technology is there and available for us to take our businesses to the next level. With a few clicks of a mouse we can build our own MT website, set up an online diary or download files for transcribing.

Be smart in your business, keep up with the times, adapt to technology and your future outlook will look better than ever.