Tag Archives: Bureau Of Labor

Medical College Can Be The Beginning Of A New Career In Medical Transcription!

The evolution of the information age is turning out to be an incredible boon for a single parent. Thanks to recent technology, a working mom can hold down her job, attend college online, and still be at home for her kids. One such way she can do this is by becoming a medical transcriptionist.

As it happens, the medical field is well aware of what the introduction of high speed broadband and laptops can mean for them. They no longer have to have all their personnel report to their clinics or hospitals, fielding a lot of the work to free agents who actually appreciate staying in their houses. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 40% of all medical transcription is now fielded out in such a way.

Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings from doctors and other healthcare professionals and transcribe them into medical reports, correspondence and other administrative material. They generally listen to recordings on a headset and key the text, editing as necessary. The documents they produce include medical history and all manner of reports, studies and letters. Usually all the physicians should have to do after that is sign or correct.

This does not make them secretaries. Medical transcriptionists must have a comprehensive understanding of medical terminology, which is highly specialized. This includes knowing their way around medical reference sources, which can now be stored on their systems or over the Internet. Also, they must format in specific styles that fits with local legal requirements and keeps patient information confidential. After all, no one wants their health records easily accessed by strangers.

What has particularly affected the field, and thus made the job great for working mothers, is the advent of the Internet. The transcriptionist can now receive her dictation via e-mail or a specially sent up website, and then return it the same way. The system has become so simple it can be done on a PDA with the right apps. Speech recognition software is also growing.

Recruiters look to hire transcriptionists who have taken training in medical transcription. These courses are available at many on campus and online colleges. The course load should include legal issues relating to healthcare documentation, English grammar and punctuation and some sort of familiarity with the latest software. For working mothers, online colleges can be particularly handy because they take the courses from home and also can get familiar with the process of working remotely.

Transcriptionists are usually paid hourly or by the job. Their pay rate averages $15.00 an hour, which is usually determined by who they work for and their level of experience. Top level transcriptionists can make as much as $21.00 an hour. Apparently there’s so much work out there, they can keep themselves as busy as they want to.

The Bureau also notes it’s a growing field. Currently over 100,000 transcriptionists are in the U.S., and 10,000 more will be needed before the decade is over. In all though, it’s something a working mother can do, as is attending your online degree education.  The transcriptionist may even find she would like to continue on to your college for medical and all the employment opportunities that offers. For more information about accredited distance learning degree, check the internet.

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