Medical Transcription Trends

There are more than a few ways to make errors when working in the field of Medical Trascription, but one of the biggest – and most common – is to make mistakes in your transcriptions. Doctors rely on perfect records, yet often the dictator’s speech, grammar, spelling and handwriting are far from perfect and it’s up to you as the transcriber to figure out exactly what they are trying to say and get it right.

If you find it very difficult to understand a particular dictator, try these approaches:

• If your transcriber/software has a “tone” adjustment, make sure it is set to make the dictator’s voice sound “raw” – i.e., little or no bass. Do the same if you have a “bass” control. Removing as much bass as possible allows the words to be heard more clearly. Unfortunately, it may also accentuate any static on the tape/digital audio file.
• Try adjusting the tape/digital audio file playback speed from very, very slow to fast. Sometimes varying the speed of the tape/digital audio file will allow you to pick up on what is being said. If transcribing from tape, try unplugging your headset and playing the tape out of the transcriber speaker, if there is one.
• Try having someone else listen to the passage you are having trouble with (remembering confidentiality issues, of course). Make a note where the unintelligible section is on the tape/digital audio file, using the counter, and come back later to see if being away from it for a while helps you to “listen anew.” One or a combination of all these approaches will sometimes help.

Avoid guessing about what you hear. If the problem dictation involves drug names, drug dosages, patient-described symptoms, etc., guessing incorrectly could have life-threatening implications if your error goes through the health system unnoticed. The safest, professional, and ethical approach is to leave a blank in the transcription, making sure to make a notification on the report about the area of dictation needing clarification by the dictating physician.

Of course, if there is a way to verify what is being said by contacting the actual dictating physician or his/her staff, this is the best, quickest and sometimes easiest way to handle questions about problem dictation passages.

Isn’t the medical transcription profession cool? It definitely is. And yet we ask you to think before stepping into it? Well, the profession is cool but it is definitely not for everyone. What is the point joining the field if you won’t be able to survive in it for long? So, think before making up your mind about the profession.

What should you think about? Well, why not start with thinking about the prospects of the medical transcription profession. Can it fulfill your expectations? Are you aware of what all the profession has to offer?

Next, think about what the profession expects of you. Do you know that the profession expects you to meet deadlines every day while ensuring the highest quality? Do you know that you are responsible for the security and confidentiality of medical information in your hands? Do you know that you are expected to keep learning beyond your training? Only if you are sure you can meet the profession’s expectations should you venture into it.

You also need to find all the small, annoying things you are likely to encounter in the profession. Like taking up home-based work and realizing how distracting the home can be. You will need to handle incomprehensible recordings, difficult reviewers etc. along with delivering quality records on time. Are you up for the challenge?

The profession is flexible in many ways but you can make use of the flexibility only if you are disciplined enough. Are you disciplined enough? And will you able to enjoy your work life? Make medical transcription your career only if the answer to these two questions is ‘yes’.

Why does the medical transcription profession not have prerequisites when it is clearly looking for an aptitude? Because the profession’s requirement cannot be spelled out as proper eligibility conditions. Why not? Well, go through the following list of requirements and you’ll understand why they cannot be called prerequisites.

• As a medical transcriptionist, you should possess an excellent command over the English language. You will need to make sentences clear, crisp, and concise. Every word in your transcript should sound right and make sense.
• A medical transcriptionist should be comfortable working with a word processor and well equipped to handle a computer.
• You should be comfortable working with deadlines. You will have to deal with some extremely stringent deadlines in this profession. Some will knock on your door every few hours.
• You should be comfortable working on your own. Being your own boss is one of the advantages of a home-based medical transcription job. However, you should be disciplined enough to handle work on your own.
• The medical transcriptionist needs to possess good hearing skills. You should be able recognize words and sentences clearly from a verbal speech or conversation.
• You should be willing to update your medical knowledge every day. A medical transcriptionist has to learn new medical terms every day. Also, he/she needs to handle tools and technologies entering the medical transcription world.
• You should be able to work for long without losing focus in this field. You may have to spend long hours listening to audios and typing out text. You should be able to handle big chunks of work.

Even though the profession has no stringent prerequisites, it is important you gauge your potential before you enroll yourself into the medical transcription course.

What are the three expectations the medical transcription profession has of you? If you cannot answer that, you are definitely not ready for the profession.

OK, I am digressing. And yet I should tell you that you should learn as much about the profession as possible before making a commitment to it. Now, coming back to the question I asked, the three expectations are:

• Delivery of medical records on time
• Highest quality of records
• and Confidentiality and security of data

While the first two expectations are considered individual expectations, the third one is often taken as the medical transcription company’s responsibility. While it is OK to think so, it is important the medical transcriptionist understands his/her individual responsibility too.

One needs to pay attention to the security of medical information irrespective of whether one works in a medical transcription company or as a home-based transcriptionist. How? Here’s a list of things you must take care of.

• Keep the medical data you are working on out of reach of anyone other than you.
• Use passwords to protect the medical transcription work on the computer.
• Make sure your anti-virus software is updated regularly.
• Make sure your firewall is on whenever you are connected to a network.
• When sending files to clients, make sure the files are transmitted over a secure FTP network.
• Ensure that the FTP site is protected with a password.
• Encrypt e–mails that contain queries and information on the medical records.
• Remember to backup the medical transcription work periodically on an external drive.

Keep watching this space for more information and practical tips on medical transcription.

What makes medical transcription a sought-after profession? Now, skeptics will frown on hearing this but the medical transcription profession is indeed a lucrative profession. Let’s look at the reasons that make medical transcription a sought-after profession.

Unlike most other professions, this one doesn’t ask for your degrees or experience. The fact that medical transcription has no prerequisites makes it easy for everyone to consider it. However, the profession expects a certain aptitude. Finally, there’s a job you get based on your aptitude and not on your scores.

Now, since the profession doesn’t ask for any formal qualification or experience, you would think that it will not pay you enough. Well, on the contrary, the profession pays reasonably well and your income increases with your proficiency.

The medical transcription profession is an extremely flexible one. It lets you work from home. Now, that means setting up your own work timings and hours. However, the interesting thing is that even if you work in a conventional office, medical transcription allows you to choose your work timings. You can also decide the number of hours you want to work. Now, which other profession offers such flexibility?

One draws immense satisfaction from the medical transcription job. Why? Well, the medical records created by the transcriptionist are crucial for the healthcare and insurance industries. And this makes the medical transcriptionist’s job a really important one. The transcriptionist feels he/she is contributing to society in a way.

Does all this information make you interested in medical transcription? Make sure you learn about its cons too before you make the decision.

I want to be a medical transcriptionist but where do I start? Every medical transcription aspirant feels this way unless he/she is being guided by another practicing transcriptionist. So, where does one really start? OK, you need to find out two things even before you consider becoming a medical transcriptionist. One, you should learn about the expectations and challenges in the profession. Two, you should know if you fit into the profession. Only after you understand the profession should you even consider joining it.

Now, in today’s post, we will share with you three steps towards a career in medical transcription.

• Find out if you have the skills and the potential to be a medical transcriptionist. You need to know if you can handle the job. You also need to find out if you will be satisfied with what the profession has to offer you.
• Enroll yourself into a good medical transcription course. Now, you have to choose the course with care. You must find out if the course conforms to COMPRO, has enough dictation hours, and is followed by job assistance.
• Start looking for medical transcription opportunities beyond the ones offered by the medical transcription institute. After you finish your course, look out for opportunities. Submit your resume to job websites, apply to medical transcription companies, and even get in touch with local hospitals and clinics.

It is important you learn as much about the profession as you can before you step into the field. The more informed you are, the better prepared you will be.

What is your primary job in medical transcription? To transcribe medical information, right? Wrong. Your primary job is to create medical records; and transcribing is probably the biggest task in that job. Now, medical records lose their value if they are not completed in time. And they are of no use if they have errors.

As a medical transcriptionist, therefore, you need to create flawless medical records on time. That is what you ought to do. And, yes, there’s another thing: you ought to keep all the medical information that passes through your hands secure and confidential. In today’s post, we will look at the whys and hows of what all you ought to do as a medical transcriptionist.

The overall quality goal in the medical transcription profession is 98%. And that’s with respect to only the major and minor errors. When it comes to critical errors, you have to be 100% accurate. So, when something in the recordings doesn’t make sense or if there is an information gap, don’t assume. Ask for clarifications and research.

Quality makes sense only when you deliver the medical records in time. So, stick to deadlines, no matter what. Most medical transcription tasks have a turnaround time of 24 hours. You have to meet all deadlines and ensure that the quality does not suffer in any way.

You also need to ensure that all the medical information you have access to is not leaked out in any way. The security of such information is your responsibility.

The profession’s expectations are probably what makes medical transcription challenging but none of the expectations are unjustified in any way.

What is the first thing you do when you decide to be a medical transcriptionist? You start looking for a medical transcription course. But wait! Should that be the first thing to do? How did you even reach the decision of joining this profession? What prompted you? Do you even understand the profession well enough to be a part of it? Do you see it becoming a career in the long term?

You have got to be absolutely sure when you decide to get into the medical transcription field. Don’t take it as a fallover option that you can let go once you get a ‘better’ choice later. The profession requires you to be completely dedicated. You cannot even survive in the profession if you enter it casually. So, learn as much about it as you can before committing yourself to it.

Now, what should you know about the profession? You should find out the nature of the work, the benefits and the challenges. And after learning about all this, you need to figure out if you really fit into the profession. Are you as committed as the profession expects you to be? Will it be possible to keep yourself motivated in the long run? Will you be able to stop the everyday deadlines and quality goals from taking a toll on you? Are you sure you are ready?

It is only after you are absolutely sure that you should look for that medical transcription course. And I must warn you that you have gotta choose it with care.

Is the medical transcription profession for losers? Some people may tell you so. Why would they think that? Because this profession does not lay down a list of prerequisites. You don’t need to produce degrees or even possess any kind of experience. So, a high-school graduate can take up medical transcription and so can someone who has been a homemaker for years. This makes some people believe that absolutely anyone can become a medical transcriptionist and that the people who opt for the profession don’t have any skills to boast about.

Now, since this is a medical transcription blog, you know what I am going to say. That medical transcription is not as easy as it is made out to be. And it is definitely not a loser’s cup of tea. But you won’t believe me just like that, will you? So, let me present my case.

The reason the profession doesn’t have any prerequisites is that it is not looking for people holding a certain qualification or experience. It is looking for people with a certain aptitude and the willingness to make medical transcription their career. Now, how do you spell this requirement in terms of prerequisites?  You can’t. And that is why there are no eligibility criteria in the profession. However, any experienced medical transcriptionist will tell you that you need an aptitude for the profession. Now, it is up to you to find out if you are fit for the profession or not.

Deadlines are not the only challenges in medical transcription. The medical transcriptionist’s job is an extremely responsible one. The profession is a specialized one too. One gains the specialization through the training one attends before getting into the field. The medical records created in the job are crucial for the healthcare and insurance industries. You have got to not only meet every deadline but also ensure quality of records and confidentiality of information. That explains why medical transcription is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Would you still believe the people who tell you that medical transcription is for losers?

Well, the most effective way of getting recognized in the field of medical transcription is by doing good work. Meet every deadline and quality goal and ensure the security and confidentiality of medical information. However, if you want to be established beyond your known circle of clients/employers, seek the help of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).

Now, AHDI has established a few credentials for the medical transcriptionist, establishing his/her expertise in the field. Getting credentialed can help you in your medical transcription career though they are not mandatory. Let’s look at the credentials and designations AHDI offers.

Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT): The CMT credential establishes your expert knowledge in the medical transcription field. One has to pass an exam called Level 2 exam to become a CMT. Only the transcriptionists with at least two years of experience in acute care are eligible to take the CMT exam.

Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT): The RMT credential is for those who have less than two years of experience in acute care. One has to pass the Level 1 exam to get the credential.

Certified Medical Transcriptionist – Retired (CMT-R) Status: This status is given to those medical transcriptionists who have been awarded the CMT credential earlier but who no longer practice medical transcription. This status has to be voluntarily received by requesting the CMT credential to be retired.

AHDI Fellowship (AHDI-F): The AHDI Fellowship is offered to the medical transcriptionist who has achieved much in his life other than in his regular medical transcription practice.

You can learn more about these from AHDI’s website.