"Mini-Guide" to Medical Transcription Programs Online

In the medical transcription field, you will generally work in one of the following capacities:

• As an employee of a hospital, physician's office, medical clinic, laboratory, or other health care providers
• As an employee of a medical transcription company, working either in-house or telecommuting from a home office
• As an independent contractor working from a home-office

With experience and possibly additional education, medical transcriptionists can also work in positions involving editing, consulting, teaching, and supervising.

All aspects of patient care must be documented in a medical record, for example: discharge summaries, patient histories, physical examination and consultation reports, diagnostic imaging studies, referral notes, and progress notes.

With the help of today's advancing technology, the healthcare industry is moving towards electronic medical records to provide the best, most efficient patient care possible.

Medical transcriptionists play the important role of efficiently translating this patient care information to make it accessible for use.

Yes, absolutely!

Medical transcription is incredibly well-suited to be a lucrative and manageable home-based business.

Thanks to today's technology, beginning and operating a home-based business is easier than ever (although not without its challenges!), and medical transcription is no exception.

Check out our top 4 reasons why starting a home-based medical transcription business may be ideal for you and your family:

Reason #1: Optimal Work Environment
A home-based business means you'll never have to deal with aggravating bosses, annoying dress codes and frustrating office politics. You can also work in an environment that is most comfortable to you.

You won't have to suffer in offices that roast you in the summer and turn you into a popsicle in the winter. A home office means constantly enjoying the comforts of home. And an office view of your own backyard is pretty great!

Reason #2: Flexible Work Schedule
Skipping the commute to work allows extra time for family, friends, and tackling more items on your to-do list. Being in charge of your schedule means working when you are most productive (even if it's late at night, in your pajamas).

Working from home can also be ideal if you have children. You can be the one to see them off the bus and finding back-up childcare when they are sick is no longer an issue. When the unpredictable consequences of family life arise (which they always do) your flexible work schedule allows you to meet those pressing needs with ease.

Reason #3: Cost-Effective
The start-up and operating expenses of a home-based medical transcription business is drastically lower than other business. Most of what you need to start the business can already be found in your home office. These savings along with the money you save in fuel, dry cleaning and going out to lunch means you get to pocket more of your earnings.

There are also tax advantages to operating your business out of your home. You can claim portions of your utilities, mortgage and property expenses as business expenses.

Reason #4: Industry with Huge Growth Potential
Healthcare is a rapidly growing industry, in part due to the baby boomers. As this generation ages, there is an increasing population in need of medical tests, procedures, and health care; all of which needs to be documented.

Transcriptionists today can also take advantage of technological advances. Resources such as electronic dictionaries, medical spellcheckers, voice recognition software, and the advancement of digital voice files can help transcriptionists increase their productivity and their earning potential.

It depends on your school or provider. Some medical transcription schools require that you are able to type quickly. That means that you must be able to type a certain number of words per minute.

Also, because of the difficult nature of the word, most students are required to have a GED or high school diploma. While it can definitely be helpful, you do not need to have industry or career experience to enroll in a medical transcription program.

The majority of medical transcription courses that are offered online can be completed in a matter of months, depending on the school. Once a student has contacted an online school about the program and registered, the school will immediately ship the necessary learning materials to the student.

Study materials will vary depending on the online school or program provider, but may include textbooks, study guides, eBooks, CD-ROMs, etc.

A medical transcription training program may also send students other reference materials, including medical terminology dictionaries, and specialized dictation software. Most programs consist of anywhere from 10 to 15 lessons.

Some of the same qualities necessary to succeed as a distance learner are essential to successful medical transcriptionists. These qualities include:

• Ability to multi-task
• Comfort with navigating the Internet
• Demonstrated experience as a self-starter
• Excellent time management skills
• Good computer skills
• Highly self-disciplined
• Proven ability to work with minimal supervision
• Strong work ethics-to meet deadlines and be reliable
• Well-developed organizational skills

Additional qualities specific to successful medical transcriptionists include:

• A keen eye for detail. Editing, proofreading and catching inaccuracies and mistakes are important responsibilities of medical transcriptionists. It is not enough to just type what you hear. A successful transcriptionist will have a keen eye for detail to provide the highest quality work.
• Excellent auditory skills. Transcriptionists need to be able to decipher dictated recordings with varying dialects and accents, often with distracting background noises, while pecking away at a keyboard. The ability to accurately interpret the sounds you hear is crucial.
• Advanced medical knowledge. You will be consistently transcribing terms related to anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and lab values. It is not enough to simply memorize this information for a short period of time to pass your courses. You need to have a good understanding of this information.
• Adaptable to change and a life-long learner. Changes in technology will keep the medical transcription business evolving. Being adaptable and committed to learning will make you a successful transcriptionist.
• Above-average knowledge of English grammar, punctuation and usage.
• Ability to concentrate for long periods of time and enjoy working independently.

According to latest data published by the U.S. Department of Labor, medical transcriptionists can make anywhere from US$10.00 an hour to US$20.00 an hour.

Salary can depend on several factors, including experience, educational level, and the number of jobs that can be performed in a year.

The chart below illustrates pay by hour (amounts are listed in U.S. dollars) by experience level:

Job opportunities for professionals in the healthcare industry are on the rise across the United States.

For those entering the medical transcription industry, they can expect to see a healthy increase in the number of available jobs - a rise as much as 26% over the next seven years.

Did you know that in the U.S. alone, there were over 104,000 people working as medical transcriptionists in 2004?

This exciting, well-paying field offers a lot of flexibility, as a large number of individuals work from home.