Online Continuing Education: January 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Medical Transcription and Medical Coding

What is the difference between medical transcription and medical coding? They seem the same and on a certain level, they really are. In fact, medical transcription training and medical coding training are often mainstays in schools that offer allied health education.

Medical coding is the transformation of descriptions of diagnoses, diseases, injuries, and procedures into alphanumeric codes which are actually universal medical codes. These codes enable accurate recordkeeping of diagnoses and procedures, and offer a way to track diseases and other health conditions over time. Coding makes it easier to access health records according to definite categories such as diagnosis and procedures.

On the other hand, medical transcription is the transformation of voice recordings of diagnoses, medications, and procedures as dictated by physicians or other healthcare professionals into editable text files. Transcribed data are verbatim copies of doctors’ reports.

Medical coding is usually done in a medical or semi-medical setting, often in a physician’s office. On the other hand, medical transcription is often done outside the hospital. Both require a strong familiarity with medical terminology.

A career in medical transcription or in medical coding is financially rewarding. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the medical transcriptionist’s average salary is about $40K, while the medical coder can expect to earn between $22,420 and $35,990.

To answer the demand for high-quality medical transcriptionists and medical coders, Meditec, a top provider of online training courses, offers online medical transcription training and medical billing and coding specialist training for those who want to cash in on careers that are stable and in high demand.

Cave-ins Highlight Need for OSHA 10, OSHA 30

Cave-in during excavation. It’s been said many times in many different forums—including at OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 training—that it’s easily preventable. But tragically it remains the leading cause of worker deaths in the United States.

At a Wisconsin excavation site no deaths occurred, but serious violations were committed by a Manitowoc utility contractor to merit citations from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The contractor, the Vinton Construction Co., was cited for one willful and four serious safety violations for failing to protect workers from possible cave-ins while installing water main lines. OSHA has proposed penalties of $95,040. Vinton Construction Co. had been inspected at other times before by OSHA and had been found in violation of trenching and excavation standards.

"Safety should be paramount on every job site,” said George Yoksas, OSHA area director in Milwaukee. “And OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 course program are major focuses at OSHAcampus.com, a top provider of online OSHA training programs. OSHA 10 teaches entry-level workers about their rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint; it also teaches them how to identify, lessen, avoid, and prevent hazards in construction. OSHA 30, on the hand, introduces and explains to safety directors, foremen, and field supervisors all OSHA compliance issues.

Working in Cold Weather Safety

Now that the cold months are setting in, the old dangers of extreme cold weather are rearing up again. OSHA and agencies such as CDC have again issued their guidelines to head off cold-weather-related problems, especially from the traditionally vulnerable sectors of the workforce: construction, commercial fishing, maritime, and agriculture.

OSHA is reminding employers and workers to take precautions—such as those listed on the OSHA Cold Stress Card or those covered in OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 course programs—to prevent, combat, and treat cold-related health problems.

Some tips from OSHA to protect workers:

Recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that may be dangerous.
Learn the signs and symptoms of cold-induced illnesses and injuries and what to do to help workers.
Train workers about cold-induced illnesses and injuries.
Encourage workers to wear proper clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions, including layers that can be adjusted to changing conditions.
Be sure workers in extreme conditions take a frequent short break in warm dry shelters to allow their bodies to warm up.
Try to schedule work for the warmest part of the day.

OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 training are course programs that responsible employers now require of and provide to its employees to ensure a safe and healthful workplace for them. OSHAcampus.com, a top resource for online OSHA training programs, provides OSHA 10 training for entry-level workers, and OSHA 30 training for safety directors, foremen, and field supervisors.

Wastewater Training- Fast-Track Your Career with Online Training

Wastewater training is usually a job training program that is administered to people who want to work in water treatment facilities. Often, people will spend years training for this career because there is so much detail to learn. Potential employees have recently discovered the many benefits of online training and education because it allows them to learn the important things on the job and the details in the classroom, which saves them time on training overall. Imagine if you could spend less time training for your career and more time working in a position that you are more than qualified for. With online training, you can do just that.

Depending on the state that you live in, there might be a limit on how many courses or which things you can learn online. Make sure that you check out state and local requirements for training to determine what wastewater training you can do online and what has to be done on the job. Being able to save time and money with online training is only effective if you are taking the right courses, after all. If you do find the courses that you are permitted to take online, you can count on shortening the amount of time that you spend training on the job, and sometimes substantially.

Wastewater training is something that needs to be done in order to find the career success that you are looking for. By being able to get training online, you will have a much faster track to that success than if you just do the job training like most people have done for decades. It’s important that you get the right training, so you should find a training provider that is professional and reputable for career and professional training and resources, because anything less isn’t good enough.

Don’t fall for the fly-by-night training providers or the online websites that make themselves sound too good to be true. In most cases, these are the people who will take advantage of you. When you want online wastewater training programs, find providers who can work with you to get the education that you need, and who have the reputation and history that proves they are good at what they do. As long as you prepare yourself and take the time to find the right programs, you can easily fast-track your wastewater career, no matter what capacity you choose to work in.

Cave-ins and Cold Weather Highlight Need for OSHA 10, OSHA 30

At a Wisconsin excavation site no deaths occurred, but serious violations were committed by a Manitowoc utility contractor to merit citations from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The contractor, the Vinton Construction Co., was cited for one willful and four serious safety violations for failing to protect workers from possible cave-ins while installing water main lines. OSHA has proposed penalties of $95,040. Vinton Construction Co. had been inspected at other times before by OSHA and had been found in violation of trenching and excavation standards.

"Safety should be paramount on every job site,” said George Yoksas, OSHA area director in Milwaukee. “And OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."

And now that the cold months are setting in, the old dangers of extreme cold weather are making regular construction work more than ordinary in terms of construction hazards. OSHA and agencies such as CDC have again issued their guidelines to head off cold-weather-related problems, especially from the traditionally vulnerable sectors of the workforce: construction, commercial fishing, maritime, and agriculture.

OSHA is reminding employers and workers to take precautions—such as those listed on the OSHA Cold Stress Card or those covered in OSHA 10 training and OSHA 30 certification—to prevent, combat, and treat cold-related health problems.

Some tips from OSHA to protect workers:

Recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that may be dangerous.
Learn the signs and symptoms of cold-induced illnesses and injuries and what to do to help workers.
Train workers about cold-induced illnesses and injuries.
Encourage workers to wear proper clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions, including layers that can be adjusted to changing conditions.
Be sure workers in extreme conditions take a frequent short break in warm dry shelters to allow their bodies to warm up.
Try to schedule work for the warmest part of the day.