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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

An Overview of Medical Transcription


Now one of the largest segments in the healthcare industry, medical transcription is a highly specialized field that employs network professional transcribers. They basically automate or make available, relevant patient healthcare information to interested parties. Medical transcription is a new field yet a growing number of people are becoming interested in this area. It is one job that fits busy people, enabling them to work in their own free time, or to work in the comforts of their homes. Dictation is very much a part of doctors and medical professional's ways of doing things. While that's both practical and convenient to doctors themselves, turning audio recordings into an organized file for coherent record keeping is the gap bridged by the Medical Transcription industry. Direct narratives may not always be appreciated. It makes more sense to put records into forms and formats that patients, health insurance agents, and even doctors themselves could use more easily.

Medical transcription involves the entire process of converting audio recordings, files and dictations by doctors and other medical professionals into accurately transcribed medical records. The process turnaround is swift, in some cases, to as fast as 12 hours. These records need to be transcribed as swiftly as possible as these may involve urgent medical situations requiring urgent medical care for patients.

The medical transcription process begins with receiving a doctor's dictations and other audio recordings in various formats - tape, digital systems, or voice files. These files are loaded onto equipment with earphones for the transcriptionist to list, and a foot pedal for good audio input control. Then the data is typed in any word processor program.

The process obviously requires trained listening skills, excellent command of English, familiarity with medical terminologies and a fairly fast and accurate typing speed. On top of that, it is also good to be proficient with the computer, since most offices are now using computers.

The Medical Transcription industry has put in place a system of quality assurance for its outputs. It's an industry standard for all transcribed output to pass through editing and review before being sent back to clients for their own reviews. Many organizations offering transcription services have an in-house team of quality assurance editors alongside their team of medical transcriptionists. While it may not be as tough as rocket science, being a medical transcriptionist does require a fair amount of training and computer adeptness. Most people who want to pursue a career in the medical transcription industry are required to pass some training and in some cases, may be required to obtain certifications.

The above qualification is very necessary especially since a medical transcriptionist is involved in gathering a lot of pertinent information all the time. As such, being accurate and skilled is very important.

What makes medical transcription such a rewarding career option for many people is the fact that it can be done from home. For highly mobile people like military spouses, it complements their lifestyle. For highly immobile people with disabilities, where transportation is a major challenge, this is a good job for them. That flexibility has attracted thousands into the industry and will attract more in the future.

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