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Home Medical Transcription : A Decent Living or a Scam?
By Stephen Bucaro
No doubt you have seen many ads by medical transcription
schools claiming that you can make big money typing medical
transcription at home. Can you really make a good living
doing medical transcription at home, or is it just another
scam? In this article, you'll learn the honest facts about
home medical transcription.
Can you really make a decent living doing home medical
transcription? Yes and no.
Yes - Many people are earning $50,000 to $80,000 or more
per year typing medical transcription at home. They work
where they want, when they want, and as much as they want.
The amount of medical transcription work that needs to be
done FAR exceeds the available transcribers to do the work.
When I say the demand exceeds the supply, I mean the
situation is desperate.
No - Reading a few booklets and listening to a few tapes
will not make you into an instant $50,000 per year medical
transcriptionist. If you're not ready to commit to between
six months and a year of hard study and practice, find
another means of earning a living.
Typing medical transcription is not like typing a letter
to your mother. It's far more challenging. Below are some
of the challenges you must be prepared to meet.
1. You must have a good understanding of medical
terminology. You need to know how to spell the names of
the latest medical conditions, drugs, medical tests,
treatments, and procedures, and just knowing how to spell
them is not enough. Because of challenge #2 decribed below,
you need to have some familiarity with medical conditions
and what tests, drugs, and treatments are related to that
condition. It's difficult to learn this with a mail order
medical transcription course. This type of knowledge comes
from experience.
- You don't need to be familiar with ALL medical
terminology. Many transcriptionists specialize in specific
areas such as gastroenterology or opthalmology. However,
when you want to go on vacation, you'll need someone else
to take over your work while you're gone. In reciprocation,
you'll need to cover for someone else when they go on
vacation, and they may be transcribing to a different field
than you're familiar with.
2. You need to be able to extract the transcription from a
noisy electronic recording. Unfortunately, many doctors
mumble, garble, don't enunciate, don't speak up, or talk
too fast when they dictate. Combine the above problems with
a thick, foreign accent and you can have real dificulty
understanding what the doctor is saying. In many instances,
the only way you will be able to decipher what the doctor
is saying is if you are familiar with medical conditions
and what tests, drugs, and treatments are related to that
condition.
- Doctors dictate "on the fly". They don't have time to
think about proper sentence construction as the words
emanate from their mouth. Frequently the sentence they
started doesn't make any sense or has an error by the time
they get to the end. Do you edit what the doctor said, or
just type the jiberish as dictated? Usually a doctor
appreciates when you clean up their dictation. On the other
hand, medical documents are often presented as evidence in
legal actions. You're taking on liability if you change
what the doctor actually said.
- Many transcriptionists have their own group of doctors
that they type for and eventually become familiar with the
idiosyncracies of each doctor. This makes understanding
what they are saying much easier; however, when a you go on
vacation, someone else will need to cover the doctors while
you're gone. In reciprocation, you'll need to cover for
someone else when they go on vacation. You won't be familiar
with how the doctors dictate.
3. To make the earnings cited above, you need to be able to
sit and type for long hours. You need to isolate yourself
from the noise and distraction of other human beings (and
some pets) and pound on that keyboard hour after hour. As
I stated earlier, the amount of medical transcription work
available far exceeds the available transcribers to do the
work. Some transcriptionists let greed take control of them
and sit at the computer for 16 hours seven days per week.
They get accustom to a $100,000 a year lifestyle. But what
does it do for their health?
- Medical transcription companies charge more for "fast
turn around". Some pass part of this money onto the
transcriptionist, others just demand the work get done
immediately. In either case, fast turn around work prevents
you from controlling your own working hours.
Now that I've discouraged you, the fact is that many
medical transcriptionists do work where they want, when
they want, as much as they want, and earn a respectable
living. If you're up to the challenge, how do you became
a medial transcriptionist?
Training
You'll need to be proficient in the use of a computer.
You'll need to be a fast typist. If you can't type as fast
as the doctor dictates, you'll be working hard with the
foot pedal to move back and forth in the recording. You
must be comfortable using a Word Processing application
such as Microsoft Word or Workperfect. You'll need to know
how to format documents and how to use macros. If you don't
use macros you'll be typing the same phrases over and over.
If you decide to sign up for a medical transcription course,
make sure the course provides plenty of authentic
dictations. You cannot become a medical transcriptionist by
just reading medical terminology. You need to hear it
spoken. Just listening to terms being pronounced is of
limited use. You need to hear the terms used in a sentence.
Simulated medical dictations are fine, but you need some
practice with actual medical dictations.
- Find a course that teaches basic anatomy and physiology
along with terminology.
The best way to learn
The best way to learn is with on-the-job training. If you
have a doctor friend or family member who does dictations,
ask them if you can transcribe a low-priority dictaion for
practice. If you're working at a clinic or hospital as a
secretary or receptionist, investigate how the transcription
gets done and volunteer to help.
Start out with a specific type of transcription such as
letters or office notes in specficic specialities. As you
get more experience, your speed will improve and you can
branch out into other types of transcriptions for other
specialties.
The amount of medical transcription work that needs to be
done far exceeds the available transcribers to do the work.
Yes, you can make a decent living doing home medical
transcription. You can work where you want, when you want,
and as much as you want. But, medical transcription is an
occupation only for those who are prepared to meet the
challenge.
Resource Box:
Copyright(C) 2005 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain
your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web
site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com
To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit
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About the Author
Copyright(C) 2005 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web
site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit
http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp