Some Efficiency Tips So You Could Earn More in Transcription

Medical transcription is one of the fastest growing career fields not just in the U.S. but all over the world.  It’s one of the most common portably career for housewives and former employees of medical institutions, mainly because it allows people to work at their convenience and in the comfort of their own home. 

So you just got your medical transcriptionist certificate and are still probably getting the hang of your job. Worry not, because you can always get better at your job sooner than you think. Here are a few tips on how you could speed up things a bit:

1. Know your vocabulary. Your training includes over 40 hours of studying pharmaceutical, surgical, gynecology and other groups of medical terms. Learn them by heard—have them for breakfast, snacks and dinner and you’ll get to memorize them eventually. Better yet—do not just memorize them but understand how the terms are being used in context.

2. Know the keyboard shortcuts. Practice using your PC’s keyboard (Microsoft) shortcuts as early as now to help you save time in opening applications, switching between tabs, or typing and editing your documents. Or you can assign your own shortcuts to your keyboard. (It’s all about you, baby!

3. Optimize your system. Make sure you’re Operating System or your apps are in good condition, meaning, are free of bugs or do not lag. You can also install a PC optimizer that keeps your PC error free. CNET.com has an extensive library of applications that can help improve your PC’s performance so that it won’t interrupt your work and enhance your productivity. Make sure your PC is also free from Malware or any viruses.

4. Take a break. Try productivity techniques like the Pomodoro, which will have you taking breaks with increasing duration every 20 to 30 minutes. Or just take a break when possible. According to an article published on the New York Times, taking a short walk, stretching, or just a few minutes of daydreaming can help you recharge your creativity and mental faculties. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a very informative page about taking breaks—you should check it out.

Working faster and better is no rocket science: All you need are the right kind of resources to do the job.

Read More»

Medical Transcription Schools: Your Way to a Better Portable Career Future

In this rebounding economy, it’s expected of us to hold on to whatever resources we have. After all, we may not be in the clear for now and a secure future may be anything but a dream. So if you’re planning to switch to a medical transcription career, it’s only wise to choose a quality training provider that offers value for money. The best way to go is to enroll in online training.

Online medical transcription schools offer students an enormous amount of savings in terms of enrollment and other miscellaneous fees. Just imagine how much money you would have to allot to transportation, allowances, books and other supplies if you go to a physical, onsite school. With just over $1,000 dollars in tuition fee, you save a huge chunk of your budget and use them more important things like your monthly rent or current work stipend.

When choosing medical transcription schools, a rule of thumb is to check the credibility of the training provider. Some research is definitely in order so that you can make sure that you’re getting top-notch training. Check the e-learning provider’s background and find out how long they’ve been in the industry. You should also search testimonials and reviews written by past students on the e-learning company.

Next, check the background of the company’s subject-matter experts. More or less, the profiles of these said experts will be posted on the training provider’s website, and it wouldn’t hurt you to check them for past affiliations, educational background, etc. Knowing your trainer’s background will definitely give you peace of mind.

Meditec transcription school offer a wide variety of financing option so you won’t have to worry about it. These financing options include installment plans, federal educational assistance and military grants like the MyCAA grant.

Another thing that you should consider is to check whether or not the training provider’s courses are up to date and at par with US education standards. You don’t want to enroll in a school that still utilize dated teaching techniques, topics, and courseware. Remember: never settle for less especially if your future depends on it.

Read More»

Is Medical Transcription a Dying Career?

Many medical transcriptionists are claiming that the transition to voice recognition has changed the way they work forever. While the use of voice recognition software has undoubtedly made the lives of transcriptionists easier on the job, it did pose some employment challenges for some of them. And one would only need to visit answer sites and MT forums to believe this assumption. There, you’ll find out that most medical transcriptionists are being paid less because of a lighter workload, because the voice recognition software is robbing them of their work load.

Basically, what’s happening is that the voice recognition software now transcribes the recorded data for the medical transcriptionist; all the MT would have to do is review the file for errors. Some software has the option to autocorrect errors saved in its history, which in turn, rids the MT of the job to edit errors. In some cases though, MTs still transcribe the entire voice recording especially if the voice of the dictator hasn’t been recorded in the system yet. Otherwise, MTs would only have to edit the transcript for errors, and are only paid for the number of lines they edit and lines they actually have to encode. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics data don’t lie either. In 2008, the growth forecast for the career was at 11 percent. Two years later, however, the rate has gone down to a mere six percent, which is considered slower than the average for all occupations. There has been little movement in employment rates as well, with 5600 new medical transcriptionists to be employed between the period of 2010 and 2020. Overall, there are 95,100 medical transcriptionists working in the United States—a number dwarfed by that of medical records technicians (there are currently 179,500 medical records technicians in the US).

Despite these unwelcome changes, many people are still pursuing medical transcription as a career. And it isn’t entirely a bad idea. Medical transcription doesn’t require one to have a degree or certification and should certifications be required, training to become a medical transcriptionist takes only a few months. Training with Meditec, for example, takes six months tops, including the practicum (on-the-job training). The compensation isn’t bad either—at $15.82 an hour or $32900 yearly, an MT salary is enough to put food on the table. The salary is also enough to sustain one’s lifestyle, especially if you still don’t have a family.

Current MTs don’t have to worry because the demand for MTs worldwide is still strong, and you only have to go online to find gainful employment. Meditec’s seasoned subject-matter experts advise newbie MTs though to aspire to become a medical transcription editor, since it is a more stable job. Editors are more in demand and can readily shift to other fields, like web content, technical writing and medical writing and editing. Editors, also, make around $20 or so hourly. And if you want to shift to another healthcare profession, you can always turn to elearning companies like Meditec for assistance.

If the future still seems hazy for you, consult with Meditec. Download our free career guide to help you create a blueprint for your career future. Our career guide can help you match your personality profile to the job descriptions we’ve created. 

Are you facing the same struggles as medical transcriptionists worldwide? Do you know some income-generating tips for medical transcriptionists who want to earn more? Share your ideas in the comments section below this post. 

Read More»

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.

Click here to read on Things You May Not Know About Medical Transcription

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.



Click here to to read on How Medical Transcriptionists Can Stay Ahead

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.

Read More»

Practical Tips for the Medical Transcriptionist

Quick: What’s the difference between a medical transcriber and a medical transcriptionist? If you answered that the first is the equipment and the second is the person who uses that equipment, then you’re well on your way to success in the field of medical transcription.

You see, medical transcription demands of its practitioners not just precision but also a wide stock of knowledge. You won’t last long in the business if you don’t have both.

Now that you’re embarking on a medical transcription career training, here are some practical tips to transcribe by:

1.     Don’t rush. You’re not in the ER; you’re in a field where accuracy is paramount, where a small error could snowball into something that can endanger someone’s health. Some tend to liken medical transcription to other types of transcription. It’s not a good comparison. Transcribing medical records is a lot more demanding on your accuracy, sense of fidelity, alertness, and knowledge of the field. Slow down. Advice: Set your transcribing machine at a slower speed.

2.     Right References. Be right. That is, be correct based on the right references. The medical profession is a science not an art (notwithstanding terms like “medical opinion” or “the medical arts”). In fact, it is much more a science now than it was just 10 years ago, what with the advent of genetic engineering, stem-cell research, and nanotechnology. So, arm yourself with the right reference materials: an updated copy of the Physician's Desk Reference, for one; bookmarks to reputable medical websites and pharmaceutical companies, for another. You may even want to have a basic Latin-English dictionary on hand since most ailments go by a Latin name. You’ll need to take pains to look up unfamiliar drug names and medical terms with Latin names so you can put in context the medical notes you’re transcribing.

3.     Leave Blank an Unfamiliar Word. If you’re in doubt, leave a blank (or an easily noticeable marker) in place of the word you can’t decipher. Don’t guess (“it sounds like”) because there’s no such thing as a half-right word. Play it safe because it is the correct thing to do. When you’re ready to proofread, simply refer to your markers and go back to each spot on your recording where the problematic words appeared. Again, slow your machine down.

Now, you’re all set.

Read More»

MTIA Becomes CDIA, and an eBook for Medical Coders

In March 2011 the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) officially became the Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA), to reflect the group’s envisioned expanded role beyond medical transcription, editing, voice, and speech recognition. CDIA said that its new involvement now addresses every point in clinical documentation, including medical billing and coding training, pharmacy technician classes, and medical transcription training,

The new name is an adaptation to the evolution of the industry, now pulled beyond its original form by technological change and outsourcing. According to CDIA, the overwhelming majority of the businesses doing medical transcription are small firms now struggling to cope with the changes in a still highly profitable industry. CDIA hopes to become the industry resource for these companies.

“Complete and accurate clinical documentation is mission critical for healthcare providers,” said Peter Masanotti, a founding partner of CDIA. He explained that information captured without quality-assurance measures or best-practice processes often produce errors that could snowball down the healthcare delivery system. CDIA coordinates with other organizations and standards-setting groups to develop best-practice processes and guidelines to ensure quality clinical documentation.

Meantime, a new eBook for medical coders was recently released by its author, Nancy Krall, of icd-diagnosis.com, a help website for medical coders in search of the correct medical codes to use in their documents, for those who need to prepare for credentialing exams such as those in medical billing and coding training, in pharmacy technician classes, or in medical transcription training.

The eBook, ICD Medical Thesaurus For Coders, supplies coders with the synonyms they often need to look up the correct symptoms or diagnoses so that billing claims can be paid. Being a thesaurus the medical terminology in the eBook has been matched up with synonymous terminology which has the same or similar meaning of the original medical term. Krall, as a nurse and a trainer in a coding department, saw the need for a resource to help coders with the medical ICD terminology. ICD Medical Thesaurus is available at Amazon's Kindle Store at amzn.to/yzvVlB for $3.99.

The eBook comes at just the right time. The shift to ICD-10 by October 1, 2013 means that the 14,000 medical codes in ICD-9 that the medical community now uses will balloon to some 64,000 codes. The extra 50,000 codes will enable medical coders to be a lot more precise than before in coding for specific disease diagnoses. Krall hopes that ICD Medical Thesaurus will make it easier for medical coding employees to find the correct codes for problem-free claims.

Meditec, a top portal for medical billing and coding training, pharmacy technician classes, and medical transcription certification classes, provides medical coders the right coursework to be able to work right away with ICD-10 when it’s implemented.

Read More»

Questions on Medical Transcription, the IRS, and Some New Terms

Is an independent medical transcriptionist a contractor or an employee? It’s an oft-repeated question in the medical transcription community, even for those who are still finishing medical transcription training. The question is important because its answer determines whether a medical transcription services organization (MTSO) pays withholding tax or not.

This question in fact was the bone of contention in a well-known legal wrangling between the IRS and an MTSO. The latter won its appeal recently, sparing it from paying the IRS $500,000+ for withholding taxes and its attorney, for his fees compensation.

The IRS defines employees who are subject to tax withholding as:

"Under common-law rules, anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. This is so even when you give the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right to control the details of how the services are performed."

On the other hand, independent contractors, are defined as:

"People such as lawyers, contractors, subcontractors and auctioneers who follow an independent trade, business, or profession in which they offer their services to the public, are generally not employees. However, whether such people are employees or independent contractors depends on the facts in each case.

The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if you, the person for whom the services are performed, have the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result."  

The case was won for the MTSO by a tax lawyer who was able to present the correct documentation showing that medical transcriptionists are independent contractors.

Meanwhile, another important question was recently answered—not in the courtroom this time, but in medicaltranscription.com via the article, “What’s the Difference Between an EHR, EMR and PHR?”

The piece takes up the cudgels for medical transcriptionists and those who are still taking medical billing and coding training or medical transcription training who are a little uncertain about the exact meanings and importance of these new digital-age acronyms. The descriptions below are based on the explanations in that article.

EMRs or electronic medical records are patient records in electronic form which are made within the hospital or in the doctor’s office. They replace the paper chart system that was previously used. EMRs are used by the medical provider (the doctor or the hospital) and staff to maintain patient care.

EHRs or electronic health records are electronic medical records and then some. EHRs are designed to be shared in digital form among medical providers, say between the medical oncologist and the radiology department, and then with the surgeon. This digital information may be shared with the hospital and the patient, too.

PHR or personal health record is an electronic health record that’s owned and maintained by the patient himself, but which can be accessed by others (usually a physician) if given the authorization by the patient. It’s typically stored in a secure web portal and contains such information as lab findings, imaging reports, immunizations and other data gathered by medical providers.

Meditec.com, a top portal for billing and coding training, pharmacy technician classes, and medical transcription training, gives medical coders and medical transcriptionists professionals the training they need for a fast-digitizing medical-documentation industry.

Read More»

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.

Read More»

Medical Transcription and Medical Coding New Technology for Medical Transcriptionists

This probably was never taught in medical transcription training school or medical billing and coding specialist training, but a new encoding technology is now getting the attention of professional medical transcriptionists and those who are studying to be medical transcriptionists. Called the “HTML Editor,” the fully integrated hypertext markup language (HTML) editor was recently released by Scribe Healthcare Technologies, Inc., a healthcare technology company. 

The evolutionary transcription and editing platform, according to Scribe, significantly expands document creation and management options for medical transcriptionists, who have heretofore used Microsoft Word or some other text editor to transcribe and proofread dictated medical reports.

In addition, says Scribe, with HTML Editor physicians can access (using a password) and review their documents from virtually any spot in the world through a web browser, a mobile device, or a laptop with Internet connection. "Transcriptionists can create structured documents without reliance on MS Word," said John Weiss, Scribe vice president. "Saving companies from expending resources on software installation and upgrades lowers operating costs and lessens support frustration." 

Because HTML Editor has a feature called SmartText, it is able to count template and macro content differently from content that is actually typed in by the transcriptionist. Template and macro content are predefined text, often common terms, that physicians can indicate during dictation to reduce text that will be manually transcribed. This relieves physicians from the burden of dictating entire paragraphs or extensive, confusing medical jargon.

This technology not only is expected to deliver savings to medical professionals and medical facilities that use the services of medical transcriptionists, but actually also boosts an already booming industry. Meditec.com, a top provider of online training courses, offers medical transcription training and medical billing and coding training for those who want to take advantage of a career field that is stable and in high demand.

But what is the difference between medical transcription and medical coding? They seem the same and on a certain level, they 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.

Read More»

Medical Transcription and Medical Transcriptionist’s Technologies

The Pacman of the medical transcription (MT) world has done it again. For those of you who are just beginning their medical transcription professional career but like to keep close tabs on the industry news, here’s an update: Major medical-transcription firm iMedX Inc., of Shelton, Conn., has gobbled up yet another MT organization; this time it’s the National Medical Transcription LLC (NMT) of Port Washington, N.Y.

The New York firm said that it will soon incorporate its customers into iMedX following the buyout. iMedX, for its part, explained that the buyout will increase its customer base, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region. NMT, which specializes in medical transcription systems, becomes the tenth firm (at least) in the medical software field to be assimilated by iMedX since March 2008.

iMedX is privately held, and is backed by New Canaan, Conn.-based RFE Investment Partners. The company makes the TurboScribe, TurboRecord, TurboRx and TurboFlow medical transcription software products.

The rapid expansion of iMedX reflects the robust health of the medical-transcription industry in the U.S., belying fears that outsourcing is hurting the industry.  It also reflects the industry’s ever-growing reliance on new technology.

One such technology, however, is causing concern among medical transcriptionist. It doesn’t need any medical transcription training, it doesn’t need any coffee breaks, and it sure doesn’t need to get paid. It’s called speech recognition transcription (SRT) software and it’s giving newly-fledged and veteran medical transcriptionists alike an inferiority complex. But should it?

SRT is a child of the computer age we live in. It enables the translation of a voice file into an editable text file in much the same manner that your scanner’s OCR (optical character recognition) magically transforms a page of your book into, say, a .doc file. SRT completely cuts out the traditional middleman, the transcriptionist, from the process. Theoretically, it can make the transcriptionist completely unnecessary, obsolete. But that time has not yet come because the technology to do it is definitely not yet here.

The two main stumbling blocks of SRT in medical transcription are transcription accuracy and medical terminology. To put it simply, it cannot yet transcribe well enough for the job, especially if that job is loaded with medical jargon. SRT, at this stage, simply makes too many mistakes to be considered reliable. In one recent study, in fact, over 600 radiology reports were transcribed, half by a medical transcriptionist, half by SRT. The SRT reports returned an error rate 800 percent higher than the transcriptionist’s report.

At Meditec.com, a premier provider of many online courses (including pharmacy technician courses, medical billing and coding training, and medical office management training), reliability and accuracy are focus points of its medical transcription training program. They will serve well the aspirant medical transcriptionist in a future that will see SRT attempt to make inroads in the medical transcription world.

Read More»

Medical Transcription Career

One of the popular jobs nowadays is that of a medical transcriptionist. This career offers opportunities to those individuals who prefers or has no choice but to work from home. This is one of the career choices for those people who are fixed at home due to family reasons (housewives or people taking care of relatives) or those who can’t leave home due to medical conditions – they add up to the earnings of the family by working online without having to sacrifice certain needs.

Transcribing voice records of physicians of healthcare personnel and making a report out of it is the main task of a medical transcriptionist. Most professionals in this field are very keen in listening and have fast typing skills. Of course editing some sentences and correcting grammars are part of the job. Those who are familiar with medical words and terms have a good advantage in this job. 

Being able to do different jobs at the same time or multi-tasking is one of the plus factors for this career. One sample of multi-tasking they have to do is to listen to recordings, record it and edit it at the same time – this is common for those working from home but for those working directly in healthcare facilities have a wider range of responsibilities. 

There is now a lot of software and improvements in technology that makes a medical transcription career easy to conquer. There are now technologies such as voice recognition that translate recordings to written text. The MT’s job would then be to edit the report as not all systems are perfect.

This career does not require a bachelor degree but a vocational training in a medical transcription school. One thing that a lot of people liked is that aside from training centers, this field is also offered through online courses – both training and certification.

Medical transcription training educates the individual for all of the traits needed for the job. Medical terminology and procedure familiarization is one of the trainings included along with English and grammar language courses. It could take up to a year or two to finish the course (depending on the school schedule or your pace in online training). 

This industry is increasing its demand because it is a truly promising job. Interested people can look up both online or a nearby training center for their training. One sample of a good provider is Meditec– a site that you can visit to start your very own career in medical transcription.

Read More»