Medical Transcriptionist Career Guide

What a medical transcriptionist does

Patient care is about more than treatments. A large part of health care involves accurate documentation and the maintenance of proper records. Medical transcriptionists help physicians and other healthcare professionals keep accurate records by converting dictations into written reports.

Medical transcriptionists may work for hospitals or physician offices. Or, they may work for large companies that offer transcription services to medical professionals also hire transcriptionists.  Regardless of where they work, their typical responsibilities and duties include:

• Listening to the record dictation of a doctor or other healthcare worker
• Interpreting and transcribing the dictation into patient history, exam notes, operative reports, referral letters, discharge summaries, and other documents
• Reviewing and editing drafts prepared by speech recognition software
• Translating medical abbreviations and jargon into the appropriate long form
• Identifying inconsistencies, errors, and missing information within a report that could compromise patient care
• Following up with the healthcare provider to ensure that reports are accurate
• Following patient confidentiality guidelines and legal documentation requirements
• Entering medical reports into electronic health records (EHR) systems

Why they are needed

Medical transcriptionist play a huge role in the healthcare industry. They alleviate physician burnout by taking care of the administrative work (i.e., writing up patient notes) for them. This means that  physicians can focus on providing the life-saving care they need to.

Furthermore, medical transcriptionists ensure that patient records are consistent and accurate. This plays a huge role in ensuring that patients are offered consistent and high quality care.

Pros and cons of a career as a medical transcriptionist

Pros:

• Often have the flexibility to choose their own hours
• The work is often very interesting
• It is a rewarding career, as medical transcriptionists play a key role in ensuring patients receive high quality care
• It is a relatively easy career to enter

Cons:

• It is a sedentary job that requires sitting and concentrating for long periods of time
• Employment opportunities are set to decline
• Working from home can be lonely and isolating
• Although some of the work may be interesting, a lot of it may be mundane and boring