Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription

Medical transcription is a medical language specialty, which has become an indispensable element in the modern health care industry. It involves interpreting and recording dictations by physicians and other healthcare professionals regarding patient assessment, workup, therapeutic procedures, clinical course, diagnosis, prognosis, etc. It also includes modifying the dictation for grammar and clarity, as necessary and appropriate. Generally, the information is recorded either on a tape or a digital voice processing systems.

Medical transcriptionists return the transcribed documents to the physician/provider for review and/or correction, which eventually becomes a part of the patients’ medical records. The health care industry relies on medical transcriptionists for accurate documentation of medical reports.

Experienced transcriptionists spot mistakes or inconsistencies in a medical report and check back with the provider to correct the information. Their ability to understand and correctly transcribe patient assessments and treatments reduces the chance of patients receiving ineffective or even harmful treatments and ensures high quality patient care. The majority of these workers are employed in comfortable settings, such as hospitals, physicians' offices, clinics, laboratories, medical libraries, government medical facilities, or at home.

In addition to understanding medical terminology, transcriptionists must have good English grammar and punctuation skills, as well as familiarity with personal computers and word processing software. Normal hearing acuity and good listening skills also are necessary.

The prerequisites for becoming a medical transcriptionist are:

Aptitude for continuous learning.
Good command over English language.
Sound Knowledge of medical terms and their contextual meaning.
Good Listening skills.
Sound judgment and deductive reasoning skill.
High Level concentration during the whole workday.
Ability to work under pressure.

Future of medical transcription:

Employment for medical transcriptionists is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2010. A growing and aging population will spur demand for medical transcription services. Older age groups receive proportionately greater numbers of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that require documentation.