Becoming a Medical Transcriptionist

If you enjoy learning about and using medical terminology, like having flexible work hours and want to work from home, then becoming a medical transcriptionist is a great career option. Find out what's involved in becoming a medical transcriptionist, education and training options for medical transcription certification, and medical transcription salary and employment opportunities.

Table of Contents
Medical Transcriptionist Education, Training and Experience Requirements
Medical Transcriptionist Job Description
Medical Transcriptionist Salary and Employment Information

Medical Transcriptionist Education, Training and Experience Requirements

Official certification is not required to become a medical transcriptionist. However, in today's competitive world, certification does greatly increase your chances of becoming employed. At the very least, students should take courses in medical transcription and medical terminology.

According to the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), anyone interested in becoming a medical transcriptionist should have excellent English language skills and a strong interest in learning medical language. Medical transcriptionists must be able to work long hours in sometimes high-stress environments, and the need for accuracy is crucial -- high levels of concentration and attention to detail are a must. Medical transcription is much more about medical language and healthcare documentation specialization than it is about being able to type well, and a good amount of concentrated study is necessary to do a good job in this profession.

You should also already possess, or be able to develop, good keyboarding skills -- which are different from typing skills. Medical transcriptionists use word-processing programs that automatically fill in certain words as they type, and the text can be edited after it has been entered into the document. You should be familiar with the latest versions of word processing programs such as Microsoft Word and WordPerfect.

You can take medical transcription classes in many community colleges, proprietary schools and home-study programs, both online and in physical classrooms. AHDI recommends a two-year program that includes an externship, but shorter programs are certainly available. However, the only way to achieve "Certified Medical Transcriptionist" status is by passing the certification exam administered by AHDI.

Many medical transcriptionists enjoy the luxury of working from their own homes. While this is very possible for this profession, most companies require that employees do some work on-site to demonstrate their skills before entrusting them to accurately work at home.

Medical Transcriptionist Job Description

A medical transcriptionist is sometimes also called a medical language specialist, which correctly identifies these individuals as highly trained professionals. Medical transcriptionists help physicians and surgeons by transcribing, formatting and proofreading their reports, which are usually dictated into a tape or some type of digital voice processing system. Typically, these dictations discuss the patient's health, and they are recorded into word processing software such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Once entered in word processing software, these dictate reports eventually become a part of the patient's permanent records, which is why their accuracy is so important.

Usually, medical transcriptionists listen to the dictations on a headset, and they use a pedal to momentarily stop recordings as needed. The dictations are simultaneously edited and entered into a word processing program. The final documents produced include discharge summaries, medical history and physical examination reports, consultation reports, autopsy reports, diagnostic imaging studies and progress notes. Once completed, these documents are then given back to the physicians for any corrections and a final signature, after which the document becomes a part of the patient's permanent record.

Medical transcriptionists work in a wide variety of environments including hospitals, clinics, physician offices, transcription services, insurance companies, and home healthcare agencies. Many medical transcriptionists also work out of their homes as independent contractors or subcontractors as home-based employees.

Medical Transcriptionist Salary and Employment Information

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, medical transcriptionists held about 98,000 jobs in 2006. Approximately 41% worked in hospitals and another 29% worked in offices of physicians. The remainder worked in medical and diagnostic labs, outpatient care centers, and offices of various speech and occupational therapists.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that employment of medical transcriptionists is expected to rise by 14% from 2006 to 2016. This growth is due to a quickly growing aging population. Because older populations tend to receive more care, the need for larger amounts of medical tests, treatments and procedures that need documentation is also expected to rise.

While there have been some reports of outsourcing of medical transcription services to other countries such as India, this is not expected to greatly affect the industry due to the large amount of editing which is necessary for outsourced work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that median hourly earnings of medical transcriptionists were $14.40 in 2006. Of these, the middle 50% earned between $12.17 and $17.06 per hour, and the lowest 10% earned less than $10.22 per hour. The highest paid 10% earned $20.15 hourly.

For the companies employing the largest number of medical transcriptionists in 2006, median hourly wages were as follows:

Medical and diagnostic laboratories	$15.68
General medical and surgical hospitals	$14.62
Business support services	$14.34
Outpatient care centers	$14.31
Offices of physicians	$14.00

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an average annual salary of about $32,120 for 2002. According to Salary.com, the median annual salary for medical transcriptionists is about $36,000. In 2002, the magazine Advance for Health Information Professionals noted that certified medical transcriptionists earned significantly more than noncertified ones; their numbers were $36,225 as opposed to $29,732 annually.

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