Information About Medical Transcription Jobs from Home

A medical transcriptionist can work from home or from a clinic or doctor's office. As the name suggests, the person working as a transcriptionist should have thorough knowledge of medical terminology which includes words, phrases from various branches of medicine such as pharmacology, anatomy, physiology and diagnostic procedures, operation methods, etc.

Medical transcription jobs from home involve converting verbal medical reports into the written electronic documents.

A recent graduate or a high school diploma holder can become a registered medical transcriptionist after passing the test conducted by the Association for Health-care Documentation Integrity (AHDI).

Though there are no established educational standards for transcriptionists, employees generally select those candidates who have undergone a one or two years training in a renowned institute.

Average salaries for the transcriptionists vary from state to state depending upon the experience and the lines written in a day. People working in other medical professions like nurses, may work as transcriptionists in the medical field, if they have a strong grasp of medical terminology.

These jobs provide good career options for women who wish to work from home, as they need to look after their children at home. They just have to undergo training where they are introduced to medical terminology, common medical procedures, computer software operations, grammar and punctuation, etc.

But undergoing the training or passing the test is not enough if you want to become a medical transcriptionist. You must have good listening and writing skills. You should be an organized person, as a minor error can create problems for the patients and the doctors as well.

The transcriptionists receive voice recorded notes from doctors, surgeons and other medical personnel. They have to listen to these notes carefully with the help of a headphone, and have to transfer (type) the data into the personal computer and create respective files using the word processor.

At the end, they are expected to recheck the information, and if there are any grammatical or other errors regarding the information, they are supposed to correct those accordingly.

Then they have to send those files to the senders. The doctors check the information and ask to correct it if they find it wrong. After corrections, they sign the document and then it becomes a part of the patient's history and is available for reference. It is preserved in hospital records.

There is an increasing trend of outsourcing of medical transcription. So, by sitting in any corner of the world, you can work for any hospital, institute, clinic or doctor. You can enjoy flexibility of time and space. You can be self employed but you have to be perfect in your work. Correct use of words and language is essential.

You may be asked to create various types of reports such as autopsy reports, consultation reports, operative reports, diagnostic reports, progress reports, etc. You may have to write down procedure notes, reference letters, diagnostic image studies reports, anything related to medical field.

You must be familiar with the language, web and e-mail techniques. Since salary of a medical transcriptionist depends on number of lines (correct) written in a day, typing skill does play an important role here.

Working as a medical transcriptionist from home can be very stressful. The job requires 100% perfection. You need to have perfect knowledge about the medical laws. You are expected to pass the re-certification exam every 3 years.

Taking into consideration the growing number of ill people, the labor bureau expects a significant rise in the number of medical transcriptionists jobs in the near future. Those working from home can set their own working hours, they can work part-time if they wish.