What the Medical Transcription Working Environment Is Like

The job of a medical transcriptionist is a comfortable job, set in offices found in clinics, doctor's offices, transcription provider headquarters, laboratories, hospitals and the transcriptionist's own humble abode. With the advent of internet technology reconciling the pulls of family life and career, more and more medical transcriptionists are telecommuting from their home offices. These individuals are either fully employed by healthcare management providers and medical institutions or work as subcontractors (work for hire).

What Offices Are Like

Medical transcriptionists work in their own cubicles or work stations in the offices. These workstations are equipped with Windows-based computers (the audio and typing software are usually compatible with Windows operations systems and incompatible with Mac OS) and foot pedals.

Software Requirements

With most offices going paperless nowadays, medical transcriptionists are expected to log their transcriptions in a database or cloud-based computing system. They may also be required to access electronic health records, although this may depend on the type of institution where they work and the rigors of their job.

What are the Health Risks or Trade Off?

As with other office-based occupation, the most common problem of working as a medical transcriptionist is sitting in front of the PC for long periods of time. Workers are likely to experience back or neck strains as well as wrist and hand strains. To prevent these incidences, office ergonomics should be observed. Employers, of course, are responsible for this and should buy ergonomic chairs, tables and PCs to make the work lives of their transcriptionists convenient. They can also do this by consulting an office ergonomics specialist. Self-employed workers can also improve their working conditions by purchasing ergonomic office furniture and computer peripherals.

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Shift and Work Hours

A typical work week for medical transcriptionists constitute 9 to 5 hours of work daily. They may be required to clock in depending on the attendance policies imposed by their employers on them. Home-based or self-employed medical transcriptionists, on the other hand, may not follow a regular schedule. As for compensation, medical transcriptionists are paid based on a fixed hour rate, per line or volume of output for the day. The turnaround time for most work is whole shift or a maximum of two to three days.



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Working Conditions

The work environment for most medical transcriptionists are quiet, with occasional muzak, muffled chatter and the soft pounding of keys. It is a highly quiet and formal work environment so you can expect to be very productive in it. Unless you work in a busy environment or unless your cubicle is located near the busy areas of hospitals or clinic, then you may have to contend with the noise created by patients and co-workers.