faqs

No, any undergraduates (PUC or 10+2), graduate, post-graduates belonging to any faculties are eligible. Most of MT workforces working for top MT companies in India do not have any graduation or science (or medical) background.

A minimum requirement for all our students is 20 wpm. Although typing is included in the training throughout the medical transcription training, you will find that your typing skills are gradually and steadily improved. Practice makes perfect! Constant keyboarding will increase your speed and accuracy even if you have not done a typing class earlier. We do include, however, lessons regarding the use of the keyboard.

Medical transcription professionals are:

• Word specialists
• Self-starters
• Independent by nature
• Self-disciplined

Medical transcriptionists are also interested in medicine, committed to learning, known to have inquiring minds, able to concentrate for long periods, willing to assist others, able to work with minimal supervision, and dedicated to professional development and achievement.

Absolutely. It is a highly specialized field requiring a very strong medical background, an in-depth knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, disease processes, and pharmacology. Those who learn to do it successfully generally are also good spellers, have good keyboard skills, and excellent researching skills. Speed increases with training and experience.

Medical understanding is critical for the professional Medical Transcriptionist. The complex terms used in medicine are unlike the language of any other profession. Medical Transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. A Medical Transcriptionist is truly a medical language specialist who must be aware of standards and requirements that apply to the health record, as well as the legal significance of medical transcripts. The Medical Transcriptionist, or medical language specialist, must be well versed in the language of medicine.

• Above-average knowledge of English punctuation and grammar.
• Excellent auditory skills. Simultaneously with keyboarding.
• Advanced proofreading and editing skills, ensuring accuracy of transcribed material.
• Versatility in use of transcription equipment and computers, since transcriptionists may work in a variety of settings.
• Highly developed analytical skills, employing deductive reasoning to convert sounds into meaningful form.

Learning how to listen with discrimination requires practice and guidance from an experienced medical transcriptionist. If you already have the requisite keyboard skills, the additional courses you need will include lots of transcribing practice. You probably have a head start, but you'll need to learn how to integrate your medical knowledge with keyboard and listening skills.

Consider first and foremost that it is a major career in one of the top economic industries - healthcare. Then consider the time and money savings by training and working at home, gasoline, day care expense, general reduction of the overhead of daily living because you are at work instead of stuck in traffic, wasting the most precious commodity you have: time. And the best reason, you set your own hours and have more time for family and friends.

The medical industry historically has been virtually immune to recession - the demand for medical services, and therefore the demand for all related products and services, such as medical transcription, coding, and billing has never diminished. Security to that extent is difficult to find. The medical industry has experienced more steady and concrete growth of any North American industry that actually has economic impact on a national scale.

A good MT with sufficient experience can grow to various levels, i.e., Proofer, Super Proofer, Editor, QA, Team Managers, etc. Roles and responsibilities of a MT designation vary from company to company.

Medical transcriptionists may be paid in any of a variety of ways, but chiefly by the hour, by production, or by a combination of hourly pay plus incentive pay for production.

The "Certified Medical Transcriptionist" (CMT) credential is earned through successfully passing of the certification examination administered by Prometric for AAMT. The credential is maintained through continuing education. Becoming a CMT may lead to increased pay but requires a commitment to and an investment in one's own professionalism. Finally, it should be understood that all Medical Transcriptionists share a common trait enthusiasm for their profession.

Voice recognition systems are often discussed as an imminent threat to this profession. This has been true since 1989. Despite millions and millions of investment into the technology, it has never materialized to effectively eliminate healthcare documentation specialists. The vocabulary of medicine with the ability to combine Latin words is virtually infinite. No voice-based memory thus far developed has been remotely capable of addressing that with any precision, let alone the exigencies of a voice with a cold (not recognized by the software), set maximum speech input speeds (mostly too slow) so the dictator wastes a lot of professional (and expensive) time.

Those that have been implemented, require healthcare documentation specialists to edit the errors and critically think through the process. We don't see much of a threat from our observation and research since these professionals are still need to listen, interpret, and edit the voice-recognized transcription. There has been a shift in roles - maybe more time is spent editing than transcribing – but there hasn’t been a huge decrease in the number of positions because software can’t think.

Medical Billing:

• Uses codes.
• Collections from patients.
• Complex software.
• Rarely works from home.
• Medical Transcription:
• Word processing of medical stories.
• Simple software.
• Usually works from home.