Medical transcriptionists spend a significant amount of time at a computer editing their work for clarity and grammar.
Medical transcriptionists play an important role in the health care industry. They must be knowledgeable of medical terminology and must be able to accurately transcribe a large amount of material. They must be able to catch errors in text and they must be comfortable using digital equipment. The work completed by medical transcriptionists is vital to the treatment a patient receives.
Job Duties
Health care professionals record dialogue to be transcribed into correspondence and medical reports. Medical transcriptionists are responsible for listening to these recordings, and typing the text into a word processor. The transcriptionist edits the text for clarity and grammar as needed. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states, "The documents they produce include discharge summaries, medical history and physical examination reports, operative reports, consultation reports, autopsy reports, diagnostic-imaging studies, progress notes, and referral letters." Transcriptionists must receive confirmation of their work and obtain a physician’s signature. The transcript is then added to the patient’s medical file.
Work Environment
Medical transcriptionists typically work in hospitals, clinics, physicians’ offices, labs, government medical facilities, medical libraries, transcriptionist offices or their own home offices. Much of a medical transcriptionist’s job is done at a desk, so they must be able to sit for extended periods of time. They may experience back, neck, wrist or eye problems. The job can sometimes be stressful because medical transcriptionists must be accurate and must work quickly to meet deadlines. Most work a 40-hour week. Self-employed transcriptionists may work irregular hours including nights, weekends and on-call shifts.
Education
According to the BLS, "Completion of a 2-year associate’s degree or 1-year certificate program-including coursework in anatomy, medical terminology, legal issues relating to healthcare documentation, and English grammar and punctuation-is highly recommended, but not always required." Most programs provide supervised hands-on experience. Graduates can also become Certified Medical Transcriptionists or Registered Medical Transcriptionists by passing a medical transcription exam and a certification exam. To maintain their certification, they must participate in continuing education courses.
Earnings
According to the BLS, "Wage-and-salary medical transcriptionists had median hourly wages of $15.41 in May 2008." The highest 10 percent of workers made over $21.81 per hour, while the lowest 10 percent made under $10.76 per hour in 2008. Transcriptionists employed by medical and diagnostic labs made the most. Those employed by business support services earned the lowest wages.
Advancement Opportunities and Job Outlook
Medical transcriptionists can advance to supervisory positions by gaining experience. They may also become teachers, editors or consultants. Some transcriptionists start their own businesses. With additional training, others may become medical records technicians, health information technicians, health administrators or medical coders. The job outlook for medical transcriptionists is expected to increase by 11 percent through 2018. The growing elderly population will increase the demand for medical transcription services.
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