Thursday, April 14, 2011

What Does a Medical Transcriptionist Really Do?

By John Kirzno


You've probably heard all about how medical transcriptionist's get to work from the comfort of their own homes, have no boss, and make unlimited amounts of money. However, what is it that they actually do? Medical transcription is not for everyone. You might make the decision that after reading the job description that a career in transcription sounds horrific. Then again, you may decide that it's just what you've been looking for all along.

The Doctor, The Patient, and The Transcriptionist

A medical transcriptionist is responsible for typing out dictation into an organized medical report and then sending the reports back into the doctor or to the transcription company. But, what does this all mean? Well, it all starts with a doctor's visit from a patient. The patient walks into the doctor's office because of a health complaint. Information regarding the issue including details, previous conditions, operations, procedures, current existing conditions, are all recorded onto paper by the nurse and physician. Once the visit is complete, the physician then speaks all of the details regarding the patient's visit into a recording device that is then either sent directly to the transcription company, the transcrptionist themselves, or picked up by a professional transcriptionist.

The Job

Once the recording is received, the transcriptionist gets to work typing out the report. One report can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to an entire day depending on how quickly the transcriptionist can type and the length of the actual report. Most transcriptionist's are provided a deadline by which they are required to have all their work completed. Generally deadlines may range from 24 hours up to one week depending on the company or doctor the transcriptionist works for. A job in medical transcription can be a very tedious and requires a lot of attention to detail, an ability to complete work on time, a lot of typing, and a thorough understanding of medical terminology.

The Pay

Anytime there are questions or concerns about a particular profession, people generally want to know about the pay before anything else. Pay is a huge motivation for many medical transcriptionists, as not everyone takes great joy in typing about diseases and possible life-threatening conditions all day. Fortunately, there are individuals in medical transcription earning well over six figures per year. However, there are also those individuals who are earning much less. Once you begin a career in transcription, you may not bring in over $200.00 to $300.00 per week (which is fine for many), but in time, you will bring home much more as your speed and production increases.

The Benefits Overall

Because you are paid by the line, it's all about how much you can type - and accurately at that. A person with a career in medical transcription has a very good chance of earning as much money as they need and want, but must make sure that they schedule time to complete their work. If a successful daily schedule is followed, the benefits can be wonderful. You'll find that you're earning more money than you would at a regular job, have no one looking over your shoulder, can work whenever you want, and are living a life of complete personal and financial freedom.




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1 comment:

  1. Similar to other careers in the industry, the compensation for this varies from different states. The average medical transcriptionist salary in Nebraska is $28,000 per annum. http://techniciansalary.net/medical-transcriptionist-salary-in-nebraska/

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