How I Became A Home Based Medical Transcriptionist

As you probably know, there are many home based businesses out there and I wanted to work at home. I wanted a job, a real job that I could do at home. For years I worked in banking as a teller on up to Operations Officer. After 10 years of fighting Houston traffic, putting on makeup while half asleep, and putting on pantyhose (ugh!) every day, I finally decided I had had enough of the rat race. I wanted a job where I could work in my bathrobe if I wanted to (and no pantyhose allowed) every day and still make a living. So I started exploring possibilities and finally found something that interested me, medical transcription. It sounded too good to be true to get to work at home doing important professional work. I was a little skeptical but I decided to give it a try and took the plunge by taking a medical transcription course. This was a correspondence course that I could do at home at my own pace.

It took me about six months and I finally finished the course and was ready to try to actually do medical transcription from home. Then it hit me! Would I really be capable, even after taking a course, of transcribing real dictations on real patients? What if I couldn't get all of those drugs right? The "take 1 po bid or prn or t.i.d. or q.h.s." I was really petrified to start. Luckily I had taken a good MT course and was prepared to try it.

The first place I decided to look for an MT job was in the newspaper and I lucked out by seeing an ad in my neighborhood for a medical transcriptionist. I set up an interview and took a transcription test. I did leave some blanks in the transcription but I got the job.

I started working in a clinic for 5 doctors and eventually the medical transcription business that hired me decided to work in another capacity for the clinic and I took over all of the transcription and started my own business.

I eventually added another clinic to my business and hired medical transcriptionists to work for me in typing for both of those clinics.

Medical transcription is not the easiest job in the world as it requires a lot of time at the keyboard and it does require medical transcription training, but it has been very fulfilling for me. It definitely is a real job and I get a real paycheck every two weeks.

If you decide you might want to become a medical transcriptionist, visit Career Step and you can have an information packet sent to you describing the courses and training you can receive through their medical transcription and medical billing school. The course can also be done online which makes it convenient for a lot of people.

If you have any questions about medical transcription you can email me at maryjanetx@aol.com and I will try to help you.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Beginning MT Requirements

I get questions all the time about becoming a medical transcriptionist. Some people think all you need is to be able to type and spell. I have listed below some basic requirements that are important to become an MT.

1. You must be able to type! If you don't know how to type or you have not typed for some years, then you need to get a typing program and start learning and practicing. Some of the jobs require a certain speed starting at least at 60 wpm and up. For a new medical transcriptionist quality is much more important than quantity (yes, you do need to spell those drugs correctly) but your speed will pick up as you do more and more work.

2. Take a medical transcription course. I truly don't know how someone can do it without take an MT course. Maybe someone who is already working in a medical facility and already familiar with the medical terms could do it but the average person needs specialized knowledge for this type of work. There are many medical transcription schools out there. Start researching them and find one that suits you financially and academically.

3. I have only worked for clinics. Hospital transcription requires a more advanced course. You could talk to personnel at some hospitals and see what their requirements are. A lot of schools offer complete training that would qualify you for hospital and specialties transcription.

4. Even though you work at home you must see this as a real job requiring many hours at the keyboard. Most doctors and hospitals require 24-hour turnaround. In the beginning it will take a long time to transcribe as you will have to be looking up a lot of things so you will be pretty slow. As you get more experience your speed will pick up and you will then be able to make more money as you can take on more and more work.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Sample

I thought I would show you what a typical examination that I type regularly is like. This will show you the importance of taking a medical transcription course. As someone who had no prior medical experience, I could not type this dictation without having first taken my medical transcription course.

A lot of medical transcription you will learn from experience but you need to at least have some good training in medical terminology.

This dictation I am going to show you is a sample of what I typically type for a clinic with general practice physicians. The S.O.A.P. format is generally used for examinations and are Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan.

Anxiety, Hypertension, Hypothyroidism

09/01/07

S: Patient is doing well on current medications. She needs a TSH and basic metabolic panel to follow up her hypothyroidism and hypertension. She currently needs no refills.

O: GEN: This is a well-developed female in no acute distress.
Psychologic: Good eye contact. Good affect.
HEENT: TMs are intact bilaterally with no bulging or erythema.
Nasal mucosa is moist and pink.
Eyes: Pupils equal, round, and reactive to light.
Oropharynx: Slight cobblestoning.
Heart: Regular rate and rhythm without murmurs, rubs, or gallops.
Lungs: Clear to auscultation bilaterally without wheeze, rhonchi, or rales.
Neurologic: DTRs are 1+ at bilateral patella and Achilles. Ataxic gait noted.
Extremities: No edema.

A: Anxiety under good control.
Hypertension doing well on current medication.
Hypothyroidism doing well.

P: TSH and basic metabolic panel obtained today.
Continue current medications.
Return to clinic in two weeks for repeat BP.

PMD/mjr

D: 09/01/07
T: 09/01/07

Pre-Marketing Your Medical Transcription Business

You can start working on your MT business marketing while you are still taking your medical transcription course. At the end of your course your school will probably give you a list of things to do to get started. If you follow the list below you will get a head start on your marketing.

1. Business Cards - You can have your business cards printed up early and this will be one step taken care of. You can choose either a business name or your own name. I have always just used my own name. You can have a logo added to your cards also. There are many medical logos available. You could use the same logo on your business letterhead and any other correspondence such as an invoice.

I had my phone number and e-mail address put on my cards. Just be sure you choose an e-mail name carefully. It is very hard to get the name you want as there are so many taken, but at least try to get something that is not too outrageous or ridiculous. Remember this will be representing your medical transcription business. You should probably have a separate e-mail for your business. This will help you further down the road.

2. Resume - You can do your resume early also. Your school will probably have some good information about what to put in your resume, but you can have it already started with your personal information and work history. Try to make your resume as professional as possible. This will be your introduction to future clients and you want to make a good first impression. You can also have it professionally done for you if you do not think you can do a good job of it.

3. Fliers - You can get a good, professional flier made at some printing companies or you can make your own. In the flier you will state the services you are offering, but you do not want to include a price as this will probably be negotiable and depend upon the type of work and the quantity that you will be doing. You can mention your MT experience and what your objectives are. Your school also might have some good information about what to put on your flier, but you can start working on it ahead of time. Be sure and always attach a business card to your flier as people will be more likely to keep a business card than a flier.

These steps can help you get off to a good start when you have finished your course and are ready to get that first job. Doing these things early will give you plenty of time to perfect them and come up with ways to make them better.

If you have any questions about medical transcription you can e-mail me at maryjanetx@aol.com and I will try to help you.

Good luck,

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription on Squidoo

I have now started a Squidoo lens on medical transcription. My Squidoo has a great link to Cafe Press which has some really neat medical transcription items. I didn't even know you could get MT things like that. I am getting a T-shirt and a plaque for my office. It is all teddybears and they will lighten my working day when trying to understand some difficult doctors and I can look up and see my teddybear medical transcription plaque. Sometimes it takes a little levity to get through some of my transcriptions.

I have been pretty lucky in the docs that I transcribe for most. No ESL's (English as a second language) and they all dictate pretty well. I find the hardest things to transcribe are when they are talking non-medical and I can't look it up. With just ordinary conversation they seem to fly over it and it is hard to understand. That is when I leave the most blanks.

When someone asks me if I am worried about my docs going to something like Dragon Naturally Speaking and taking away my job, I just tell them that my doctors are way too busy to try to train it. If it did happen I would still be working for them transcribing what the computer didn't get right. I just don't see this as taking away medical transcription jobs for a long time. Even if it does, they will still need MTs to edit.

Medical Transcription Medical Reports and Specialties

As a medical transcriptionist you will be typing dictated reports from doctors on a variety of different systems and specialties. I have listed some of these below:

Cardiovascular System
Dermatology and Allergy
Gastroenterology
Immunology
Internal Medicine
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Otorhinolaryngology
Pediatrics
Plastic Surgery
Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery
Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Respiratory System
Urology

Some of the general terms you will be using are:

Anatomy
General Medical Terms
General Surgical Terms
Drugs and Chemistry
Laboratory Terminology.

Abbreviations and symbols are used a lot in medicine so you will need to know them.

Soundalikes are also rampant in medical terminology. You have to be very careful with these.

There are many things you need to learn in order to become a medical transcriptionist. Taking a medical transcription course is necessary in order to transcribe doctor's reports accurately. The reports you type will be going into a patient's chart so they must be correct.

I had absolutely no experience in the medical profession when I started but now typing long medical terms just comes naturally. It is like anything else, once you know it, you know it.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Getting Your First Medical Transcription Job

The question I get asked most often is "how do I find my first job as a medical transcriptionist?" This is one of the most difficult challenges a new MT has to face. Of course, everyone wants someone experienced as most health care providers do not have the time or personnel to train a new MT.

More transcription companies are starting to hire beginning MTs but it can still be a nerve wracking process. I have listed below a few ways to get started finding that first job.

1. Visiting the MT forums such as MT Desk will bring you in contact with many new MTs and many experienced MTs. They are now or have been in your same position. They can help guide you to the companies that are hiring new MTs. Start your networking early and get to know the MTs at the forums.

2. I got my first MT job during my last weeks of medical transcription school just by answering an ad in the newspaper. I got an interview and didn't do too well on transcribing the actual doctor's dictations but I got the job because I was familiar with the medical terminology and could spell the medical terms. So check your newspaper and you might get that first job right away as I did.

3. Sending letters to your local clinics and hospitals could also pay off in a job offer. Sometimes the smaller clinics are more willing to hire new MTs as they may have more time to help train you. Sometimes you will have to work in-house for awhile until you are experienced enough to work at home alone.

4. You can mention to your own doctor that you are now a medical transcriptionist and that give you a chance to give him some of your business cards that he could pass on to other doctors and your doctor might be willing to give you a chance if he is in need of a transcriptionist.

These are just a few of the things you can do to get started as an MT. Everyone had to get that first job, even the most experienced MTs.

Please read my article about medical transcription here and visit my medical transcription squidoo for more information on medical transcription.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Home Based Medical Transcription

Having a career as a medical transcriptionist working at home can sometimes be very challenging. One of the great things is that you are doing a real job and are receiving a real paycheck for it. Below are a few tips on what to do or not to do when you have a home based medical transcription business.

Things To Do:

1. Treat this as a real job. Meet your deadlines (this is usually a 24-hour turnaround).

2. Stay in touch with the real world of medical transcription via the MT forums.

3. Keep your work area as isolated from the rest of the house as possible so as to not become distracted. This work requires a lot of concentration.

4. Use a good ergonomic chair and keyboard as you will be sitting and typing for hours at a time.

Thing to Not Do:

1. Don't accept a lot of phone calls while working. Keep the answering machine on.

2. Don't take long breaks for TV or internet surfing. Both of these can be a real downfall to producing timely work. Remember, the more you type the more money you will make.

3. Don't ever leave patient information or transcription work where it is accessible to anyone who comes to your house. There is a strict code of confidentiality that must be maintained if you are working at home.

There are advantages and disadvantages to working at home. Only you can decide if you have the discipline and desire to work at home. Some people do not like the isolation of being home based and others, like myself, enjoy the freedom working at home gives them.

Is It Really Easy To Become A Medical Transcriptionist?

My answer to that is no. Sometimes you will hear how easy it is to become an MT, to sit at home in your bathrobe and type and make a lot of money. Now this is possible after awhile but you have to pay your dues first.

A lot of people think that if you can type fast and spell well you can become a medical transcriptionist without any other training. I was typing 100 wpm and was a very good speller but when it came to transcribing a doctor's dictation it was a whole new ballgame.

Don't think of this as a quick and easy way to make money at home. It isn't quick and to me it wasn't easy. It was challenging and exciting and stressful all at the same time. Could I have done it without a medical transcription course? No. Not unless I had someone one-on-one walking me through each dictation.

Can I sit at home now in my bathrobe and type and make a lot of money? Yes. I paid my dues. I took a medical transcription course and began working from home right away. I didn't make a lot of money at first but I was building up my experience. Experience is very important in getting top paying jobs as a medical transcriptionist. I ended up building my own business and had MTs typing for me. It is not an impossible dream but you have to work for it.

Would I recommend this for someone wanting to work at home? Only if they are willing to put in the time and effort it would take to become a well trained medical transcriptionist.

This has been a great career for me and I would recommend it if you are up for a challenge and willing to work hard to make this a career and not just a job.

It's up to you. Do you have what it takes to develop a satisfying career while working at home? Only you can answer that question. My answer was yes.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Using A WAV Pedal

When I first started medical transcription I would go and pick up tapes from the doctors and transcribe them at home on a transcription machine, then put them on a floppy disk and the next morning take the disk and tapes back to the clinic and pick up new ones.

Eventually my clinic started using dictation which could be transcribed via a WAV pedal. Now all I do is log into the clinic and download the doctor's voice dictation and transcribe it using the WAV pedal to hear the doctor's dictation.

Using the WAV pedal allows me to transcribe for transcription companies and clinics anywhere in the US without ever leaving my house. I can type in my slouchies, not bother with makeup unless I want to, have no wear and tear on my car, no large gas bills for my car, and even have time to surf the net in between dictations. Now this is what I call really working at home.

On top of all of that, this is a real career where my services as an experienced medical transcriptionist will always be in demand.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Schools - How To Choose The Right One

There are a lot of medical transcription schools out there, so how do you know which one to choose, which one has the best program, which one will help you get a job when you graduate?

Some of the things you want to look for in choosing a school are:

1. Do they have a good support staff?

2. Do they have a good program for medical terminology?

3. Do they focus on medical specialties?

4. Do they teach style and grammer essentials?

5. Do they offer good training on human anatomy, physiology and disease processes?

6. Do they offer good training on abbreviations, plurals, and word differentiating?

Do thorough researching before you sign up for a medical transcription course.

Ask about schools on MT forums. You will get pros and cons on the schools.

If you find the top schools too expensive you could take your course through a school such as Career Step . They have several different payment plans and are one of the top medical transcription schools.

Take your time and consider all of the different programs out there. This is going to be your career so you want to get it started right.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Reference Books

When I first started as an medical transcriptionist I only had Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary and Saunder's Pharmaceutical Word Book. My MT course required you to have a medical dictionary and drug book. That was also all I had when I started my first job as a medical transcriptionist. I slowly added to my library and the following is a list of other books I have since added:

Stedman's Abbreviation, Acronyms & Symbols (There are a lot of abbreviations in the world of medicine. I use this book a lot).

The Medical Word Book by Sheila Sloane (This book listed different specialties such as cardiovascular, obstetrics, orthopedics, etc. This came in very handy as I worked for general practitioners at clinics with no definite speciality, so I had to have information on all specialities.

Stedman's OB-GYN Word Book

Stedman's Surgery Words

Stedman's GI & GU Words

Handbook of Diseases

Stedman's Orthopedic & Rehab Words

Laboratory Test Handbook

As I said earlier, I did not start out with all of these books but they all are very useful to me now. You can start slowly like I did and eventually you will end up with a library of very useful medical books.

Vist my medical transcription website for articles and tips on becoming a home based medical transcriptionist.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Certification

A lot of new medical transcriptionists believe that when they graduate from a medical transcription course that the certificate they receive for successfully completing the course makes them a CMT (certified medical transcriptionist). This is not true. Some of the eligibility requirements for becoming a CMT are:

You must have two years of actual medical transcription experience in acute care or the equivalent. Acute care includes ESL's (English as a second language), many different report types and all of the major and some of the minor specialties.

You will take the AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcription) CMT exam that consists of medical transcription knowledge and performance items. There are testing centers where you will go to take your test. Check with AAMT for their specific guidelines and fee for the testing.

Your certification is valid for three years. After that time you must recertify by paying a recertification fee and earning a minimum of 30 continuing education credits in the required categories.

Check with AAMT for more in depth eligibility requirements.

Becoming a CMT can sometimes bring you a larger rate of pay. It recognizes you as being an experienced and qualified professional in your field. It is a badge of honor for yourself and your accomplishments.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Home Based Medical Transcription

A lot of people wonder if they would have the right basic skills to become a medical transcriptionist. I am not talking about an MT course, which you would need to have.

Some important things in a medical transcriptionist are typing, preferably 60 wpm or better (although sometimes lesser speeds could be acceptable with certain transcription companies), and good spelling and grammar.

As I am an avid reader I feel this has helped to make me good at spelling and grammar, at least good enough to correct a doctor's spelling and grammar.

I had typing in high school and my speed has slowly built up over the years as a transcriptionist. I can now type 100 wpm but I don't transcribe at that speed. I probably transcribe at about 70-80 wpm.

As far as typing goes, practice will build your speed, but in medical transcription quality is more important than quantity.

Also, working at home makes for a lonely business. That is why it is important to visit the MT forums so that you don't feel so alone all of the time. You can be sitting there for hours with a doctor dictating in your ears and feel completely isolated from the rest of the world. I, myself, do not mind the isolation but I know that it bothers some people a lot.

To me this is the perfect home based business.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcription Tips For New MTs

The question I am asked most often by new medical transcriptionists is how to get their first job. Most transcription jobs require experience as the medical providers do not have time to train new transcriptionists. So, how do you get experience if you have no experience? That is the struggle for beginners.

The good news is that there are transcription companies that will hire you and train you. Hospitals and clinics usually use a transcription company to do their transcription mainly because they don't have the time or personnel to train an inexperienced MT.

If you have taken a medical transcription course you were probably told to call the hospitals and clinics in your area or write them a letter about getting a job. Also to place ads in the newspaper, read the ads in the newspaper, and to contact medical transcription companies to see if they are hiring inexperienced MTs.

I got my first MT job by answering an ad in the newspaper from a small transcription company. I was in my last weeks of school and didn't do very well on transcribing dictation at the interview, but I was hired because I did know the medical terminology very well.

All of the above can work if you persist and don't give up. I recently had a new MT email me about trying to get her first job and I told her about all of the above methods. Then I told her to be sure and go to the MT forums such as MT Desk and ask there about who was hiring beginning MTs.

She did go to MT Desk and in less than two weeks she had a job. She found out which companies were hiring inexperienced medical transcriptionists and the first day filled out some online applications. She had a telephone follow-up with one of the companies later that week and the next week she was hired.

There are more transcription companies hiring inexperienced MTs than there once was. You wouldn't be starting out at a very high rate of pay but as your experience builds so will your pay. The MT forums will know who those companies are. You can also network with other new transcriptionists and get good advice from seasoned professionals.

So get started today, visit the forums, ask questions and get that first job.

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Is Medical Transcription Training Necessary?

Some people think that medical transcriptionists are just "typists" and that anyone who can type can do medical transcription. This is far from the truth.

Medical terminology is like a second language and you need to know it to transcribe medical reports. There are many abbreviations and sound alikes in MT work that someone untrained in the field will just not know.

In some cases if you have worked in a medical atmosphere you might be able to become a medical transcriptionist without extensive training but even then you would benefit from at least a medical terminology course.

You need to think of medical transcription as a career and not just a job, so therefore you will need some schooling just as you would in any career.

Don't take shortcuts. Get the schooling and become a medical transcriptionist. (I highly recommend it.)

Have a great day!

Marilyn Roberts
Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Record Confidentiality for Medical Transcriptionists

One of the major health care principles has always been confidentiality of the medical record. Protecting the patient's privacy has always been a top priority of the medical world.

As a medical transcriptionist you are responsible for making accurate medical records and at the same time maintaining patient confidentiality concerning those records.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that patient's health information is protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide high quality care.

Each medical transcriptionist needs to be always aware of patient confidentiality and follow the HIPAA guidelines.