Career Opportunities in Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription is the job of helping a doctor maintains the details of his interaction with a patient by converting it into a medical record by transcribing the doctor’s dictations. Medical Transcription job is a lucrative and progressive career option in health care industry. Medical transcription is a method whereby all detail medical records and physician advices protected accurately. As healthcare industry turns professional, medical transcription job is being created so many. Now, Medical transcriptionist job is an immeasurable part in healthcare services that was not visualized earlier. Medical Transcription is one of the fastest growing fields in health care. Medical Transcriptionists are in high demand in Western countries especially in the US where the entire healthcare industry is based on insurance and detailed medical records are needed for processing insurance claims. India is a very good locale for outsourcing this work due to a number of factors. We have a huge mass of English-speaking and computer-literate people in this country. Moreover, the difference in time zones between the US and India, makes it quite easy to return documents within the usual stipulated time frame of 24 hours.

Eligibility :

It does not require specialized IT skills but it requires primary skills like good listening and language skills and knowledge of medical terms. However, an ideal qualification for a medical transcription is Graduation with English comprehension skill and undergoing a training course in MT is an added advantage. Further, the candidate should be able to quickly develop new skills and adjust with the different accents and diction. Throughout the career as a medical transcription one would need to keep up with changes in medical terminologies, medical procedures etc. and have the ability to detect medical inconsistencies in dictation and fix poor grammar and syntax. One must also have patience, as the work may get monotonous and repetitive. Regular comprehensive quality training is necessary to be successful in this field.

Job prospects :

Job opportunities will be good, especially for those who are certified. Hospitals will continue to employ a large percentage of medical transcriptionists, but job growth will be in other industries. An increasing demand for standardized records should result in rapid employment growth in physicians’ offices, especially in large group practices.

Remuneration :

It is a lucrative career with lot of benefits. At entry level medical transcriptionist is paid around Rs.5000/- per month, which can exceed to Rs.20,000/- per month with two years, depending on their capabilities. There are also additional perks and performance incentives. Usually there are editors who help the transcriptionist in their work. If the MTs can become independent and do editors work also they have better prospects to earn more. With experience one can move on to becoming a supervisor, editor, trainer or manager of a medical transcription unit.