Medical Transcriptionist Careers

Medical Transcriptionist Careers Information

Medical transcriptionists work by taking dictation from physicians, or listening to recordings previously prepared by physicians, which transcriptionists document, edit and format according to established standards.

Medical Transcriptionist Careers & Degrees

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Medical transcriptionists also play a key role in transmitting important medical information to the proper recipients at other healthcare offices. Because of the severe time demands placed on physicians at many working hospitals, medical transcriptionists play an important role in augmenting efficiency by transcribing information that doctors and nurses would otherwise have to record themselves. This frees up caregivers to spend more time with patients and less time with paperwork. Furthermore, it allows healthcare centers and hospitals to operate more efficiently, as medical transcriptionists are trained specifically to take down and process information at a very high pace.

Medical transcriptionists sometimes serve as de-facto “editors” for doctors, as they are trained to spot discrepancies and errors in the documents they produce. Finally, when healthcare offices adopt speech-recognition software, transcriptionists continue to play a role in editing, formatting, and processing the results before sending them on as official documents.

This is an excellent career option for people interested in getting involved with the non-clinical side of medicine, as well as those looking for a new career with a relatively quick re-training timetable.

Medical Transcriptionist Careers Path

Although much of the training a medical transcriptionist receives is on the job and related to the specific systems in place at a given healthcare facility, programs offered at community colleges and private universities provide the background training needed for a successful career.

Especially important is a baseline knowledge of human anatomy and medical procedures, as transcriptionists will have to be familiar with the day-to-day operations and language of modern hospitals and clinics. Such programs are usually offered at the one-year Certificate or Diploma level, or at the 2-year Associate’s Degree level. In certain situations, candidates-especially those with prior healthcare experience-will be hired without specific training.

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers two levels of certification for medical transcriptionists. Registered Medical Transcriptionists, or RMTs, are recent graduates of accredited transcription programs who have passed the AHDI’s level 1 exam.

Medical transcriptionists with two or more years’ work experience can sit for the AHDI’s level 2 exam in order to become Certified Medical Transcriptionists, or CMTs. While these designations are by no means required by all employers, they can lead to better opportunities and pay.

Medical Transcriptionist Careers: Compatible Personality Traits

Careful, diligent, meticulous, focused, dependable, thorough, swift, hard-working, reliable, painstaking, quick-on-the-uptake, technologically-minded.

Medical Transcriptionist Careers: Salary Expectations

According to the Department of Labor, the median hourly wages for medical transcriptionists is $15.41, with the middle 50% earning between $13.02 and $18.55.

Medical Transcriptionist Careers: Job Outlook

As the population ages, demand for all healthcare services will increase. As the healthcare industry, prompted by the government, seeks ways to modernize and rationalize the ways medical records are kept and used, the services of medical transcriptionists should remain important.

The Department of Labor estimates that job growth in the field will be in concert with the national average for all occupations, with employment increasing by 11% by 2018.

Slightly Off the Footpath

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Psychologists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm (visited November 1, 2011).