Current Trends

Recent trends have had medical transcriptionists scrambling for other types of transcription work due to fear of medical transcription work drying up. It is true that voice recognition software is gaining in popularity, especially as its accuracy slowly but steadily improves. It is also true that the institution and expansion of use of electronic medical records has grown, especially with the aid and encouragement of things like government “stimulus” funds. Yet it is important to note that although these advancements have changed the face of medical transcription, they also have demonstrated a need for human intervention, i.e., medical transcriptionists also more and more commonly called medical language specialists.

Job boards and websites have seen a definite increase in the call for medical transcriptionists in recent months. As witness to recent demands, I am happy to report that I have actually turned away work that was simply more than I could handle. In one case, I was asked to recommend a medical transcriptionist to fill my shoes, but sadly I had no one in tow at that moment.

I applaud medical transcriptionists who stay active in the field. Those who specialize have a lot to offer. Those who branch out whether within the bounds of other medical specialties or outside of medical transcription and into other types of transcription work are to be commended.

Marketing experts advise that seeking new medical transcription work requires effort in good times and bad. They recommend repeated efforts. One mailing or phone call will generally not be sufficient. Allow time and put forth your best effort. Make your name, your business name, familiar. 

Medical transcription work is out there. Go for it!

Encouragement

While medical transcription job opportunities had slowed during the most recent economic recession, there appears now to be a change. Over the course of the past several months, more and more job openings have been posted on websites like craigslist and online transcription forums. I, too, am receiving more interest and questions from my own blog and website with increasing frequency. 

The following meical transcription job opportunity appeared on craigslist recently. Besides the growth experienced by the advertising transcription company, what is even more interesting is the highlighted quote from the American Medical Association. The medical community is undergoing change and the AMA is clearly recommending transcriptionists as the best way to ensure accurate medical records.

Medical Transcriptionists/Scribes (Home-based/Remote U.S.A./Canada)

Medical Transcription is not only ALIVE - but SKYROCKETING at InScribe! Come join the elite of the elite where we do nothing but GROW AND GROW AND GROW! We welcome NEW as well as excellent SEASONED transcriptionists - the "excellent" part is the key.

We are also growing our Remote Scribe program for physician clinics. The AMA said this past week that "Employing medical transcriptionists is the best way to adapt to the new EHR environment"... That means YOU! If you are both excellent and experienced in a particular specialty, we will teach you to become a Remote Scribe.

Medical transcription continues to evolve in an ever-changing world. The need for medical transcriptionists continues. What has been whispered to be a dying career has been resurrected.

Introduction to General Transcription

Are you new to transcription? Have you wondered what transcription is like and if it is right for you? While many transcription jobs are performed in various types of work environments, transcription is a leading legitimate work-at-home career.

Where medical transcription specializes in transcribing medical documents of various sorts, and legal transcription specializes in producing transcripts for courts and attorneys and related areas, general transcription encompasses a broad range of fields such as focus groups for market research, recorded statements for insurance companies, lectures for the academic world, sermons, interviews, student research papers, and so much more.

To transcribe an electronic digital recording (a recording housed on your computer), playback software is needed. Most computers today have player software already installed on the computer such as Real Player and/or Windows Media Player. These players will probably provide a way for you to hear the dictation, but controlling the playback requires something more.

Playing the software enables you to hear what is spoken, but control is needed. It is frequently necessary to pause the recording to let our fingers catch up to what was heard and to allow adequate time for look-ups or corrections. Transcription playback software provides the tools necessary to play, stop, pause, rewind, and fast forward through the recording. A foot pedal or keyboard commands can be used to control playback.

If you need transcription playback software, Express Scribe by NCH Software is available as a free download from the Internet. Another free player is available from Tyger Valley Systems called FTW Transcriber. Download links are also provided on the MT-Connect blog sidebar.

Are you ready to hear what an audio recording sounds like? Practice files and complete answer keys for the general transcriptionist are available here at very low cost. If you are new to transcription, I recommend that you listen to each recording once or twice from start to finish before attempting to actually transcribe it. Then try typing what you hear. Check the answer key to see how you did. Remember – practice will increase your speed and your accuracy and you will steadily gain more skills.

Introduction to General Transcription

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The Sweetest Keyboard

This picture of a keyboard by Funny Pictures made the rounds on the Internet today in anticipation of Valentine's Day.

As a transcriptionist, I need every key to get my work done. However, with all that deliciousness at my fingertips, it is so hard to resist a nibble. I think I could manage to get the job done without the...

Never Assume

A file arrives that seems familiar. The filename and length are the same as a file previously received. Still, it must be investigated.  Is it the same file sent twice? Never assume. 

  It is not uncommon for those providers still dictating with handheld recorders to overwrite old dictation files with new. Occasionally files are not cleared when their usefulness has expired. Sometimes this is by design; other times this is due to neglect or oversight. The result can be confusing at best. At worst, an overwritten file can wreak havoc. 

  A file that is 40 minutes long may be overwritten from the start but only for 30 minutes, as an example. At the 31^st minute, old dictation plays. An alert and careful transcriptionist may realize the problem because the old dictation is recognized as familiar. With knowledge and experience, a search for the existence of the remaining dictation may be revealed and then not transcribed a second time. If that file were transcribed by two different transcriptionists, then the old dictation would not be recognized. In that case (and even in the first case cited), the old dictation may begin at an odd place and therefore show itself to be incomplete and questionable, indicating an old underlying dictation file that should not be transcribed a second time. 

I received a dictation file that was overwritten four times, maybe more! Each time the filename was unchanged and the length remained the same. Yet each file contained different information. The first time, the dictation ran the full length of the file. Each subsequent dictation session ran shorter and shorter. The file was certainly a time-consuming mess to unravel. Determining that the file was in fact new somehow, and then where the latest stopping point actually was, became a project in itself. 

It is important to remind each provider’s office to erase old dictation upon completion. This reminder could possibly be placed on every invoice. Even so, the scenario will play again. 

Never ASS-U-ME! It will make an ASS out of U and ME.

Applying for a Job

I was recently contacted to oversee a transcription project. This is general transcription and not of a technical nature. There will be a few dozen or so hours of interviews to be transcribed over the next few months. It is the kind of transcription work that would be well suited for a newer transcriptionist to gain experience and acquire skills.

Finding suitable candidates is a challenge and very time consuming. I am in search of transcriptionists to assist on this project. I posted details on two Internet sites seeking qualified individuals who might be interested in working with me. The post explained the job and called for interested parties to contact me with details of their experience as well as compensation requirements. Within a few hours I received over 200 responses. (I have since pulled the ads.)

Job applicants can learn from this experience. If you are responding to a job, it is incumbent on you to present yourself in the best possible light.

1.  Reread what you are about to submit before you hit that SEND button. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation must be perfect. These are attributes of every transcription job, so demonstrate your abilities. Typos do not go over well. Everyone makes mistakes, but not in that first contact.

2.  Sell yourself. Be brief, be concise, and address the points in the ad. Avoid rambling and   straying off topic. Provide all information that is requested.

3.    Place your resume in the body of the email. A resume sent as an attachment will likely   not be opened. Sending a blank email with only a resume as an attachment provides no introduction and will likely get no response.

First Peek

Have you considered a career in medical transcription?

To succeed in medical transcription a few basic skills are required.

1. Typing – speed and accuracy make a difference.
2. Writing skills - grammar and punctuation.
3. Research skills – dictionaries, googling, print and online resources.

 Accomplishing a medical transcription job is often like solving a puzzle. Putting on paper what is heard in a recording requires focus and attention to detail. Figuring out new and technical words and phrases can be a challenge. With practice and experience, each new dictation gets easier to transcribe.

Do you wonder just what it would be like?  Here is a sample dictation to download to your computer. Can you transcribe this?