medical transcription

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does anyone hear know about medical transcription? If so is the pay good and is it a good career to get into?

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Specializes in Pulmonary med/surg/telemetry.

I know you posted this awhile ago, but if you're still interested I would be willing to share with you.

I'm starting nursing clinicals this fall and have been a medical transcriptionist for almost 4 years.

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I know you posted this awhile ago, but if you're still interested I would be willing to share with you.

I'm starting nursing clinicals this fall and have been a medical transcriptionist for almost 4 years.

Is it a good field to get into and is the pay good? Where did you learn to do medical transcription?

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

My mom has been doing it for 20 years. Pay is okay - she works part time from home and I think she gets paid by the line. I've listened to the MD's recordings...WOW.. I don't know how she gets anything out of their jibberish.

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Specializes in Pulmonary med/surg/telemetry.

I work for a small medical transcription company that has 5 employees and handles about 30 doctors, NPs, PAs, etc. All of us work from home. We pick up our work at the office in the morning, go home and transcribe the tapes, and then modem it back.

How I got the job is probably not the norm but I'll share anyway. One of the girls who works there is the sister of one of my friends and she called and told me that they were looking to hire someone new and she thought that I should come in and interview. At the time I was a SAHM/student and hadn't really been thinking about working but I went in to see what it was all about. I had NO experience in medical transcription but I had a medical background as I had been a pharmacy technician for 3 years, had my nursing pre-reqs, and had attended a pre-nursing program for 2 years in high school during which time I worked as a nursing assistant in OB, peds, and LTC. I also had good typing skills.

All of that only got me in to do the "test tape." I was hired on a probationary arrangement with training in the office since I had no experience. I thought with my "knowledge" things would be fine. I was wrong. It's one thing to "know" what the doctor is talking about, but it's quite another to actually be able to understand them. I'll just say that I cried almost every day for my first year. But after a while it started getting better as I got more and more used to the doctors and it got a lot easier. Now I love my job!

Of course, there are medical transcription training programs, but if you already have a medical background and have a good foundation of medical term, A&P, and pharm it really seems like a waste to me.

With most medical transcription you are paid based on your production, and always if you work from home. So when first starting off the pay generally isn't very good if you have no experience, but once you get faster it can be really worth it. At my last job (pharmacy tech) I was only making $8/hr. When I first starting medical transcription I was averaging about $7/hr and now I average about $17 to $24/hr depending on the doctor that I'm typing. I love it because even though my paychecks are about the same as when I was working as a pharmacy tech, I'm only working 15 hours a week comparted to 40.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

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Hi Everybody,

I'm not sure if this is an active thread. Is anyone out there pursuing medical transcription?

Diahni

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I am a transcriptionist who stopped nursing school because my youngest was on the way. I enjoy staying home with my kids but when they are all in school full time I will head back and finish my RN--I am a people person. There is no comparison in pay, transcription $ is minimal and really the greatest benefit in doing it is the hours that you choose to work.

The medical transcription world is actually changing quite a bit and before you make any decision about going in to it make sure that your bases are covered.

-Is the company looking to go all digital? (just happened in a small town not far from here and let all transcriptionists go)

-Do they allow you to work at home? Some places refuse while others will allow it after a probationary period.

-Is it a live platform where you are subjected to the timezone of the company if you are working online?

-Will you be an hourly wage earner or billed by character? 65 characters per line WITH spaces, every time you hit your spacebar it is a keystroke!

-Will they allow you to bill via an accepted line count software?

-Is the turn around time STAT, 6 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours or greater?

-Are your references current as far as a PDR or online membership--especially for meds!

-If it is for a large company, have you checked the BBB? Some places are not what they preach they are!

And keep in mind, our new president will be making changes to medical records that have some in the transcription community scratching their heads in wonder as to what will happen to our jobs...something to ponder :)

Just some ideas, not advice :wink2:

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Oh, and one more thing, it is good to know what the AAMT (American Association of Medical Transcriptionists) Book of Style is. Most places will only follow their guidelines, while others will have you follow what they see as proper. This can sometimes create a mess when it comes to following procedure--some places may have you actually spell things differently, say procedures in a different style, drop periods from prn or bid, etc... and various other things. This isn't supposed to happen, but it does:banghead:.

Hospital experience is the best when it comes to transcription. In one day you can type an open heart surgery, C-section, hysterectomy, EEG, EKG, lab values, discharge summary, death summary, autopsy, legal letter, etc... It is an exciting job and I told a doctor friend of mine one time that it was like reading a good book. But, it has its drawbacks as well. Just make sure you don't give up something good without checking in to the transcription job first :typing

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~just thought i might bump this thread~

i live in nyc. does anyone think i could make a decent wage as a medical

transcriptionist while in ns?

i have a savings account, a totally supportive fiance, & family that is willing to

help me. i'm only looking to make an extra $300-$800 per month as a part-time

medical transcripionist.

how is the pay in other states? what do some of you make per hour?..or

per "record"? how long does it take you to finish a "record"? also, can anyone suggest a program/school to me? i have seen so many ads for medical billing/coding/transcriptionist education..but i don't want to be scammed.

i know that pay is a personal question, but because we have the benefit of remaining

anonymous online, i thought i might ask :).

any feedback is greatly appreciated. it sounds like a medical transcription

position pays minimally,,.but that's fine with me. i have already built a savings

to cover the year i have to take off in ns..but i'm tellin' ya..i will just barely

be hanging by a thread..and if i didn't have my awesome fiance and loving

family back home..i'm not sure what i would do! :-) probably rent a shared room in

a super rough part of town & eat ramen everyday ;). gotta do what ya gotta

do to survive!

ps. i type 65+/wpm. will that help me? :p

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Interesting thread!

I have been an RN for 11 years and I currently work part time in the NICU (2 days a week) and I love it! My first love is nursing and I will always work as a nurse. I have a 2 year old son and will be trying for #2 this summer. Working part time works out great! I feel I am home most of the time with my son, but I would love to make a little more money a month without having to go full time or even pick up extra shifts.

I looked into things I could do from home and came across medical transcription and it was right up my alley. I love "hearing the story." I find it fascinating getting to transcribe various medical reports. I did lots of research into the medical transcription field. Money really isn't all that great especially the first few years, but with experience the money gets better. I am looking to just do medical transcription to supplement my current income so money wasn't a big factor for me. I definitely wouldn't do medical transcription as my primary source of income.

My best advice would be to attend a reputable school. I am currently attending M-TEC which is an outstanding school. They have a great reputation in the medical transcription industry. Another good one is Andrews. If you don't attend a good school the chances of finding a job will be very hard. Most companies require several years of experience before they will hire you, but if you have attended M-TEC or Andrews with a good GPA many companies will waive the 2 year experience requirement. There are many medical transcription training programs, but most of them are poor quality and you won't learn much.

Also check with ADHI. They have a list of accredited medical transcription training programs. M-TEC is all on-line and you have up to 18 months to complete it. I am about 8 months in and so far I am very impressed with the program. Being a nurse has been helpful, but there is so much more to medical transcription than just knowing some medical terms.

As a previous poster mentioned there are big changes ahead in the medical transcription industry, but I am hopeful there will still be a place for transcriptionists. Most hospitals are going to EHR, but many physicians are still dictating and the transcriptionist is inputing it into the EMR template. Speech recognition is becoming very popular, but transcriptionists are still needed to edit the final report. Yes, there are physicians that are doing away with their transcriptionists, but there will always be a need in acute care (autopsies, surgeries, etc..).

If you check out M-TEC's website you will find a lot of helpful information and you can visit the message boards.

http://www.mtecinc.com

Let me know if you have any more questions.

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I'm NICU too....and part time....looking to supplement my income without picking up any more 12 hour shifts! :) Recently I've been thinking about transcription as well. I'm a fast typer...and of course have basic medical terminology from nursing school and the last 13 years of working! --- thanks for the advice on programs...I'm still in the curious stage and not even sure how we're going to put tuition into the budget but it sounds promising. I've heard several people say entry level mt's make $12-$15 an hour...is this close? Then something about taking a exam for certification and making around $20 within about 6 months. This is amazing if true!!! Anyway...hoping by replying this thread will get more attention and we'll all possibly get more info! thanks!

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