Home Medical Transcription
By Stephen Bucaro, Thu Dec 8th

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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 schoolsclaiming that you can make big money typing medicaltranscription at home. Can you really make a good living doingmedical transcription at home, or is it just another scam? Inthis article, you'll learn the honest facts about home medicaltranscription.

Can you really make a decent living doing home medicaltranscription? Yes and no.

Yes - Many people are earning $50,000 to $80,000 or more peryear typing medical transcription at home. They work where theywant, when they want, and as much as they want. The amount ofmedical transcription work that needs to be done FAR exceeds theavailable transcribers to do the work. When I say the demandexceeds the supply, I mean the situation is desperate.

No - Reading a few booklets and listening to a few tapes willnot make you into an instant $50,000 per year medicaltranscriptionist. If you're not ready to commit to between sixmonths and a year of hard study and practice, find another meansof earning a living.

Typing medical transcription is not like typing a letter to yourmother. It's far more challenging. Below are some of thechallenges 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 medicalconditions, drugs, medical tests, treatments, and procedures,and just knowing how to spell them is not enough. Because ofchallenge #2 decribed below, you need to have some familiaritywith medical conditions and what tests, drugs, and treatmentsare related to that condition. It's difficult to learn this witha mail order medical transcription course. This type ofknowledge comes from experience.

- You don't need to be familiar with ALL medical terminology.Many transcriptionists specialize in specific areas such asgastroenterology or opthalmology. However, when you want to goon vacation, you'll need someone else to take over your workwhile you're gone. In reciprocation, you'll need to cover forsomeone else when they go on vacation, and they may betranscribing to a different field than you're familiar with.

2. You need to be able to extract the transcription from a noisyelectronic recording. Unfortunately, many doctors mumble,garble, don't enunciate, don't speak up, or talk too fast whenthey dictate. Combine the above problems with a thick, foreignaccent and you can have real dificulty understanding what thedoctor is saying. In many instances, the only way you will beable to decipher what the doctor is saying is if you arefamiliar with medical conditions and what tests, drugs, andtreatments are related to that condition.

- Doctors dictate "on the fly". They don't have time to thinkabout proper sentence construction as the words emanate fromtheir mouth. Frequently the sentence they started doesn't makeany sense or has an error by the time they get to the end. Doyou edit what the doctor said, or just type the jiberish asdictated? Usually a doctor appreciates when you clean up theirdictation. On the other hand, medical documents are oftenpresented as evidence in legal actions. You're taking onliability if you change what the doctor actually said.

- Many transcriptionists have their own group of doctors thatthey type for and eventually become familiar with theidiosyncracies of each doctor. This makes understanding whatthey 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 whenthey go on vacation. You won't be familiar with how the doctorsdictate.

3. To make the earnings cited above, you need to be able to sitand type for long hours. You need to isolate yourself from thenoise and distraction of other human beings (and some pets) andpound on that keyboard hour after hour. As I stated earlier, theamount of medical transcription work available far exceeds theavailable transcribers to do the work. Some transcriptionistslet greed take control of them and sit at the computer for 16hours seven days per week. They get accustom to a $100,000 ayear lifestyle. But what does it do for their health?

- Medical transcription companies charge more for "fast turnaround". Some pass part of this money onto the transcriptionist,others just demand the work get done immediately. In eithercase, fast turn around work prevents you from controlling yourown working hours.

Now that I've discouraged you, the fact is that many medicaltranscriptionists do work where they want, when they want, asmuch as they want, and earn a respectable living. If you're upto the challenge, how do you became a medial transcriptionist?

Training --------

You'll need to be proficient in the use of a computer. You'llneed to be a fast typist. If you can't type as fast as thedoctor dictates, you'll be working hard with the foot pedal tomove back and forth in the recording. You must be comfortableusing a Word Processing application such as Microsoft Word orWorkperfect. You'll need to know how to format documents and howto use macros. If you don't use macros you'll be typing the samephrases 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 readingmedical terminology. You need to hear it spoken. Just listeningto terms being pronounced is of limited use. You need to hearthe terms used in a sentence. Simulated medical dictations arefine, but you need some practice with actual medical dictations.

- Find a course that teaches basic anatomy and physiology alongwith terminology.

The best way to learn ---------------------

The best way to learn is with on-the-job training. If you have adoctor friend or family member who does dictations, ask them ifyou can transcribe a low-priority dictaion for practice. Ifyou're working at a clinic or hospital as a secretary orreceptionist, investigate how the transcription gets done andvolunteer to help.

Start out with a specific type of transcription such as lettersor office notes in specficic specialities. As you get moreexperience, your speed will improve and you can branch out intoother types of transcriptions for other specialties.

The amount of medical transcription work that needs to be donefar exceeds the available transcribers to do the work. Yes, youcan make a decent living doing home medical transcription. Youcan work where you want, when you want, and as much as you want.But, medical transcription is an occupation only for those whoare prepared to meet the challenge.

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About the author:Copyright(C) 2005 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain yourcomputer and use it more effectively to design a Web site andmake money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe toBucaro TecHelp Newsletter visithttp://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp