A hassle-free entry, good pay, and tremendous flexibility are what attract you to the medical transcription profession. But there are other not-so-pleasant things that lie ahead in the profession. Are you aware of them? Read on to find out.

• Do you know the profession has zero tolerance when it comes to critical errors in medical records? And it is quite obvious given that a critical error can impact the safety of a patient. And, of course, not all transcriptionists meet this quality goal. Do you think you can meet the quality requirement?
• Are you aware of the deadlines in the profession? You cannot relax with respect to medical transcription work. Every task comes with a tag of its required turnaround. You have to deal with deadlines every day, and some tasks need to be completed in a matter of just a few hours.
• Do you know that the profession requires you to keep learning even after you have got that job? Didn’t you just complete an in-depth training? Yes, but the medical transcriptionist has to keep updating his/her medical knowledge or his knowledge will become obsolete. However, not all people have that willingness to spend time and effort on learning, making many people stay away from the profession.
• Are you aware that you are required to work independently, without supervision? While this may sound enticing in the beginning, handling crisis situations on your own becomes a challenge not many professionals want to encounter.

Hope this post gave you an idea of what lies ahead in the profession. However, if you think you can meet these challenges, welcome aboard.

What is the single biggest thing that points to how good you are your work? Timing? Well, it is extremely important but it does not necessarily indicate how good or bad your work is. So, what am I referring to? I am talking about the quality of your work. It is your work’s quality that defines whether you are a good medical transcriptionist or not.

So, what is quality in medical transcription? The fewer the errors in the medical record you create, the higher the quality. The medical transcription industry expects a certain quality from you. And that is 98 percent accuracy. That’s a big figure, right? Well, let me surprise you a little more. The profession has zero tolerance with respect to something defined as critical errors.

The reason the quality standard is so high in the profession is because of the criticality of information in the medical records. Let’s look at the types of medical transcription errors as defined by the Association of Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).

Critical Errors: They are called so because they can impact the safety of a patient. The industry has zero tolerance for these errors. Incorrect patient information, incorrect names and doses of medicines, incorrect values in test results, incorrect test names, and missing a part of the recorded information amount to critical errors.

Major Errors: These errors are the ones that impact the integrity of the medical document. One has to achieve 98 percent accuracy with respect to major errors. Incorrect spelling of English words and medical terms, incorrect inferences owing to incorrect verbiage, failure to comply with protocols and policies, failure to highlight any missing information, and intentional highlighting of information cause major errors.

Minor Errors: Minor errors are not factual errors, marked by the areas of improvement in the medical document. The industry requires that you achieve 98 percent accuracy with respect to minor errors. Minor errors include errors in punctuation and grammar, inconsistency of format, and typing errors not amounting to any change in the meaning of content.

So, do you think you are doing a good job?

How do you look for a medical transcription opportunity? Which way is the most effective way of finding a job? Well, when you combine all ways, you make them all effective. So, it is important you do not skip any source while looking for that medical transcription job.

• Register with all popular job websites. Check the websites of medical transcription companies if they are hiring. If they are, send your resume to the right people. And make sure you send it in the format requested by the company. You may even be asked to fill in application forms online. Make sure that you follow all the instructions given and provide accurate information.
• Make it a point to look up opportunities on search engines like Google. You should know the right keywords to use or you will get confused with the countless search results.
• Go through the classifieds of newspapers regularly. And don’t forget to go through the job supplements of more than one newspaper.
• The yellow pages may not be checked by many, but you should look at them once in a while. You never know, you may find the best opportunity in those pages.
• Visit the local hospitals and clinic. Inquire about any medical transcription work. You may get some very decent assignments from here.

Even before you begin your job hunt, make sure the medical transcription course you are taking up has some kind of job assistance. It will help make your entry into the industry easy.

So, medical transcription entices you? You must have found out a little about the profession but you are not sure if you are eligible. Let me give you the good news first. The profession has absolutely no prerequisites. So, you don’t have to produce certificates or degrees. But there must be an eligibility condition. Well, there is no condition but there is definitely an expectation. You are expected to possess a certain aptitude. So, how can you find out if you have the aptitude? Let me take you through what the aptitude consists of, and you can decide for yourself.

You should be proficient at handling the computer, particularly a word processor. If you are not comfortable handling a computer, you should develop your computer skills before you join the medical transcription course. You also need an above-average command over the English language. If your grammar is poor, you will not be able to bring sense into the medical records, which may lead to misrepresentation of facts. And, yes, you should possess above-average analytical skills. You are required to analyze information logically in order to render meaning to medical records.

You should be able to work independently. If you long for guidance and supervision in all stages of work, this profession is not for you. You should be extremely disciplined and mature to handle work on your own. And you should be willing to research extensively for work. As a medical transcriptionist, you are required to refer to external material in order to ensure that medical records are complete and accurate.

You should also be willing to spend time and effort on learning. Yeah, the profession requires that you keep learning throughout your career. Obsolete knowledge can cost you your career. You have to make time for learning almost everyday.

Hope this helped. Let us know if you would learn something specific about the medical transcription profession.

Different people will tell you different things about the medical transcription profession. You may often come across contradicting information, making a decision become difficult with too many opinions. Are you becoming increasingly unsure about medical transcription? Let me present to you some facts that will make it easier for you to make up your mind.

The medical transcription profession is a specialized one. The profession provides an easy entry to aspirants in the sense that one doesn’t need to possess a formal qualification or have an experience to become a medical transcriptionist. However, one needs a certain aptitude to join the profession.

One needs to undergo an in-depth training before starting work. Various short-term and long-term medical transcription courses are available today. However, you should make sure that the course you join meets certain criteria.

Learning never stops for the medical transcriptionist. The medical transcriptionist needs to keep updating his/her medical knowledge regularly. Often, this requirement keeps many away from the field. Also, you are required to work on your own, without any supervision.

You must be equipped to handle deadlines and high quality goals in order to make it in the profession. Meeting deadlines every day along with meeting high quality goals is definitely a daunting task. The profession expects an overall accuracy of 98 percent and 100 percent accuracy with respect to critical errors.

Medical records are critical for the smooth functioning of the healthcare and insurance industries; therefore, the profession is an important one. This is the reason it proved to be recession proof.

Medical transcription is a great career option but it is definitely not for everyone. And unlike general belief, it is not a cakewalk. Medical transcription is a specialized profession and not everyone can become a medical transcriptionist. In fact, I warn many people against considering this career option. Let me explain why.

Medical transcription is not for you if…

…you cannot motivate yourself. As a medical transcriptionist, your job is to transcribe medical information and create medical records, day in and day out. Do you think you can keep yourself hooked to the job in the long run? You need self-motivational skills for that.

…you don’t want to learn while you work. The medical transcription profession requires that you keep updating your medical knowledge. For this, you have to invest some time almost everyday. If you cannot handle learning and earning at the same time, medical transcription is not for you.

…you cannot remain focused for long hours. The nature of medical transcription work is such that it requires you to remain focused for extended periods of time. If you are likely to be distracted often, you cannot handle medical transcription.

…you think medical transcription is just about transcription. Medical transcription does not require only your hearing skills; it needs your analytical skills as well. It also expects you to research extensively as and when required. You need to analyze information in order to make sense of it.

Now you know that medical transcription is more demanding than you thought. Are you sure you can commit to the profession? We wish you all the luck.

What is the most obvious reason for choosing home-based medical transcription? The flexibility it promises to offer. But this flexibility has the potential to make us procrastinate and lose track of our careers. Yes, you can spoil your career if you do not handle the flexibility of working from home responsibly. Here’s a list of things you should do and not do if you want to earn credibility as a home-based medical transcriptionist.

• Make a work routine and stick to it. Inform everyone at home about your working hours and ask them not to disturb you.
• Try not to attend to domestic chores when you are working. Let the kitchen sink sulk with a heap of utensils in it. Don’t prioritize anything else over your work.
• Don’t prolong your breaks for a sneak peak into the latest issue of your favorite magazine. Prolonging breaks can disturb the flow of work.
• Put your phone on answering mode. You can check your messages when you take a logical break. Make sure your business phone is active though.
• Don’t turn on the television during your working hours. If you have your favorite show coming during your working hours, either record it to watch later or adjust your work hours so that you are done with your work when your show starts.
• Inform your family, friends, and neighbors about your work timings and tell them that you will be unavailable during that time.
• Don’t get online unless your work demands. When you are online, stay away from networking sites.

Get the idea? All the best for your home-based medical transcription career!

What is the biggest challenge in medical transcription? As an aspiring medical transcriptionist, you will ask this question many a times. And you are likely to get different responses from different people. Now, the biggest challenge depends on you. My one word response to the question has always been learning. However, it is up to you to decide what exactly is a challenge and what is not. And it will take a while. You will get the real picture only when you start working.

So, what could become a challenge in medical transcription. One of my very confident acquaintances took up freelance medical transcription to be his own boss. While that made sense given that the profession offers you that flexibility, it was later found out that the man took up some other profession soon after. Apparently, he did not realize the daunting task of keeping away from the distractions at home. Now, this could happen to any home-based professional. Some other people quit the medical transcription profession midway because they realize they cannot motivate themselves long enough.

As I mentioned earlier, I think learning is a big challenge in medical transcription. This is because, as adults, we do not want to learn after we start working. But in medical transcription, one is supposed to keep learning regularly in order to update one’s medical knowledge. Now, not everyone is interested in learning or even willing to make that effort.

Deadlines and quality goals in medical transcription are definitely challenging but they are more expectations than challenges. As a medical transcriptionist, you have got to meet deadlines, ensure high quality of medical records, and ensure the confidentiality of medical information. So, do you think you are ready?

What is the best way to look for a medical transcription job? Start sending your resume to medical transcription companies? Look up jobs on the Internet? What exactly is the right way to find a medical transcription job? Well, there is no right way. There are multiple ways. And you need to try every one of those.

Before I talk about how to land a medical transcription opportunity, let me ask you something. Did the institute where you enrolled for the medical transcription course offer you placement assistance? If your answer is ‘no’ I am going to bang my head on a wall.

If you have read this blog before, you know how we insist on you choosing your medical transcription course with care. You should not join a course that is not followed by some sort of job assistance. A good institute will have industry contacts, and if you start off with some help from the institute, you don’t have to lose time or worry about landing a good first opportunity.

Now, you don’t need to be satisfied with what the institute has to offer. Look for a job on your own. Here’s how.

• Register yourself with job websites.
• Check out medical transcription company websites and apply to them.
• Get yourself listed in the yellow pages and on Craigslist.
• Approach local hospitals and clinics to find out if they have an opportunity.

I hope this post helped. Do share your experiences of medical transcription job search with our readers.

I asked a few medical transcription aspirants how they chose their medical transcription course. Here are some of the responses.

“My friend told me about the course.”

“I am doing the course online because I get to be at home.”

“I looked for ‘medical transcription courses’ online and found this course.”

How did you choose your medical transcription course? The same way these people did? Choosing the first course you come across or some course your friend recommended is not the ideal way to go about selecting a course that’s crucial to your career. And choosing an online course for comfort is not done either; you should be sure you can handle an online course and that it suits you better than a regular one. Ask the following questions before you zero in on a medical transcription course.

Does the course conform to COMPRO? The course you choose must conform to the competency profile for medical transcription education (COMPRO) guidelines as laid down by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).

Does the course contain sufficent dictation hours for practice? If a course does not contain enough dictation hours, it is of no use. A good course should contain a high number of hours of dictation and the dictation should be authentic. Avoid the courses that contain dictations recorded by actors instead of doctors.

Does the course offer any kind of job assistance on completion? You should not go for a course whose completion is not followed by job assistance. Go through the placement figures of earlier batches to understand the effectiveness of an institute’s placement assistance.

Has the course received good feedback in the past? Look online for feedback on the course. You will get a fair idea of the course from what people write in forums and discussion boards.

Your success as a medical transcriptionist starts with the course you choose.