Medical Transcription FAQ

Q. What does a medical transcriptionist do?

In the broadest sense, medical transcription is the act of translating from oral to written form (on paper or electronically) the record of a person's encounter with a healthcare professional.

Physicians and other healthcare providers employ state-of-the-art electronic technology to dictate and transmit highly technical and confidential information about their patients. These medical professionals rely on skilled medical transcriptionists to transform spoken words into comprehensive records that accurately communicate medical information.

Speech recognition systems also may be used as an intermediary to translate the medical professional's dictation into rough draft. The medical transcriptionist further refines the draft into a finished document.

The industry is moving toward electronic health records, allowing storage of an individual's health history so that it can be accessed by physicians and other healthcare providers anywhere.

Keyboarding and transcription should not be confused. The primary skills necessary for performance of quality medical transcription are extensive medical knowledge and understanding, sound judgment, deductive reasoning, and the ability to detect medical inconsistencies in dictation. For example, a diagnosis inconsistent with the patient's history and symptoms may be mistakenly dictated. The medical transcriptionist questions, seeks clarification, verifies the information, and enters the correct information into the report.

Q. What characteristics do I need in order to become a medical transcriptionist?

You need excellent English grammar skills, as well as a strong interest in and knowledge of the medical language. You need good visual and auditory ability and excellent listening skills. You need reasonable keyboarding skills and must be able to work for long hours, often in a high-pressure environment. A high level of concentration for extended periods of time is also important.

Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language relating to anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. A medical transcriptionist is truly a medical language specialist who must be aware of standards and requirements that apply to the health record, as well as the legal significance of medical transcripts.

Reports of patient care take many forms, including histories and physical examinations, progress reports, emergency room notes, consultations, operative reports, discharge summaries, clinic notes, referral letters, and an array of documentation spanning more than 60 medical specialties and frequently dictated by healthcare providers for whom English is a second language.

Q. Where do medical transcriptionists work?

Medical transcriptionists work in hospitals, clinics, physician offices, transcription services, insurance companies, home healthcare agencies, and other locations where dictation for the purpose of healthcare documentation requires transcription. Many MTs work from their homes as independent contractors, subcontractors, or home-based employees.

Medical transcriptionists use their talents in a variety of healthcare settings, including doctors' offices, public and private hospitals, teaching hospitals, medical schools, medical transcription businesses, clinics, laboratories, pathology and radiology departments, insurance companies, medical libraries, government medical facilities, rehabilitation centers, legal offices, research centers, veterinary medical facilities, and associations representing the healthcare industry.

Medical transcriptionists work with physicians and surgeons in multiple specialties. They work with pharmacists, therapists, technicians, nurses, dietitians, social workers, psychologists, and other medical personnel. All of these healthcare providers rely on information that is received, documented, and disseminated by the medical transcriptionist.

Qualified medical transcriptionists who wish to expand their professional responsibilities may become quality assurance specialists, editors, supervisors, managers, department heads, or owners of medical transcription businesses. Experienced medical transcriptionists may become teachers, working in schools and colleges to educate future medical transcription professionals.

Q. What about certification?

The CMT (certified medical transcriptionist) credential is earned through passing the certification examination administered by Prometric for AAMT. The credential is maintained through continuing education. Becoming a CMT may lead to increased pay but requires a commitment to and an investment in one's own professionalism. Medical transcription practitioners wishing to sit for the certification examination must have at least 2 years of acute-care transcription experience.

Q. How will speech recognition technology affect the future of medical transcription?

The amount of healthcare provider dictation continues to increase. However, the availability of qualified MTs is not growing at the same rate. Speech recognition technology is sometimes used to compensate for the shortage of MTs, but it is impossible for this technology, with all of its limitations, to completely eliminate the need for medical transcriptionists. Even at its best, machine-generated text contains errors that need to be corrected by professionals with language skills and an understanding of the health record. MTs continue to be the best qualified to discern the nuances of human speech.