Name: Doralynn Kennedy
Job Title: Medical Transcriptionist
Where: Virtual
Employer: Independent Contractor
Years of Experience: 1
Education: Medical Transcription School
Salary: See PayScale’s Research Center for the average medical transcriptionist salary.
Working From Home: A Medical Transcriptionist Salary
“How do I find medical transcriptionist jobs?” is a question we hear more and more these days. Many people are seeking flexible jobs that allow them to work from home. Medical transcriptionist jobs offer a great option for anyone who dreams of working at their own home office. Medical transcriptionist Dorylanne Kennedy recently gave us inside information about medical transcriptionist training, helpful websites for medical transcriptionists, home-based medical transcriptionist jobs, and medical transcription companies. She also gave us a realistic picture of a medical transcriptionist salary and what it’s like to attend training. This interview is a must-read for anyone interested in working from home or pursuing medical transcriptionist jobs.
Medical Transcriptionist Job Description:
It’s a little difficult to explain. It may be helpful if I first give you the life cycle of a medical record. It all starts when the patient sees the doctor. After that visit, the doctor will dictate his report into a phone or a microphone. That dictation is captured on a voice capturing system. That voice file is then downloaded to the medical transcriptionist.
At this point, the transcriptionist transcribes the doctor’s file and uploads the completed document to the hospital or clinic – where it is filed for the patient. A coder then codes the document from the transcribed report. The biller bills the visit from the coded document. Insurance and patient are billed, then the completed documents are filed for the patient. As you can see, the transcriptionist provides a crucial link in the life of a medical document.
Since this is a legal document, it is important that the transcriptionist ensures the accuracy of each and every report transcribed. Each report must be grammatically correct, formatted correctly, and follow the style guidelines of the AAMT. The transcriptionist must also know the guidelines for the doctor, hospital, or clinic they are assigned to. Difficult medical terms must be researched. A medical transcriptionist must have a thorough knowledge of human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and disease processes. He or she needs to know medical abbreviations and how to deal with them.
A medical transcriptionist needs to know what kinds of changes she can and can’t make to a doctor’s report. She also needs a good ear because there are many challenges in a dictation. Some doctors are good dictators, but most are not. If you think their signatures are bad, you should hear them dictate! They stop, lose their train of thought, start up again at a different point. They mumble, speed talk, dictate through ringing phones, dictate while eating, yawning, and carrying on conversations that have nothing to do with the report.
There is often background noise that makes it nearly impossible to hear what a doctor is saying. Another challenge faced by the transcriptionist is the ESL doctor. Some accents are very difficult to understand, so a medical transcriptionist needs a good ear for accents.
Why did you choose a medical transcriptionist job?
Before I studied as a medical transcriptionist, I had thought I could do the job since I had previously been a medical assistant. I had a thorough knowledge of medical terms and anatomy. I decided to apply at a medical transcription company, and they were kind enough to let me test. The test was a huge shock. I failed it miserably, but I did learn something from the test.
I learned that I wanted to pursue medical transcription. I started researching the different schools available and soon found out that not all transcription schools were created equally. In fact, there are very few schools that new graduates will get hired out of. I found one that medical transcription companies were working with and studied there. I passed their course with high honors and had three job offers shortly after graduating.
Can you give us some information about becoming a medical transcriptionist? What medical transcriptionist training do you recommend?
If you are interested in pursuing medical transcription, then I strongly encourage you to do so. I recommend the school I attended, of course. I am an affiliate there, but even if I weren’t, I would recommend it. It is one of the top schools for medical transcription training and is approved by the AAMT. I do recommend this profession. The job outlook is great! Think of all the doctor’s visits that occur on a daily basis in the United States.
It’s staggering. Each one of those visits must be recorded. Medical transcription companies are always hiring, and there are never enough medical transcriptionists to meet the need.
What is the average medical transcriptionist salary?
The average medical transcriptionist salary is about $40K. Pay is based on production, so the more productive a transcriptionist is, the more they earn. An experienced transcriptionist, with high production, easily earns $70K per year.
How does your salary compare to a medical transcriptionist salary? Find out with PayScale’s Salary Survey.
