As innovations in technology arise and medicine is continuously changing, new occupations are opened every now and then. The medical transcription profession is among the latest careers in the healthcare industry. This career is yet to be widely recognized but it has been one of the fast-growing occupations today. This is one of the stress-free professions in the medical industry yet it offers a very good medical transcriptionist salary. For those who have good proficiency in communication, particularly with verbal communication and listening skills, they would definitely find this job suitable for them. Before going for the income of these medical transcriptionists, one should get to know more about the job as it is not commonly heard of by many.
The medical transcription job can be really thought-provoking and exciting at the same time as you have to be quick and accurate in converting the dictations of the medical practitioners into a transcript form. He is tasked to transcribe a wide range of medical files particularly the patients’ past histories, consultation notes, diagnosis, autopsy reports and evaluations. This is very important in making sure there is consistency in the continuity of care for the patients by proper transcription of these medical reports. Usually, the information is dictated by the doctors and recorded either in voice processing systems or tape recorders. The purpose of this profession is to transform these recordings into readable formats whether in printed or in digital form. The basic tools they use may comprise of computers, headsets, foot pedal, and speech recognition software. For some who may have added duties such as secretarial tasks are usually provided with supplementary medical transcriptionist salary.
An aspirant should first complete his education by studying in a certification program for a year or by getting an associate’s degree for two years. Medical transcription programs may or may not be accredited, but for those who want to obtain an accreditation, they may get it from the ACCP. For those who wish to obtain certification in order to become Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMT), they are required to acquire their training from accredited institutions. The authorized body in giving out certifications to those who have passed the qualifying examinations is the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT ). With a certification, you will have better opportunities of finding employment and be offered with a good medical transcriptionist salary.
The surveys conducted by the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) as of May 2008 yielded results including the medical transcriptionist salary averaging $32,960 per year, which may be simplified into a hourly salary rate of $15.84. The salary of MTs are not fixed and this may be because there are employers that pays them per hour of work while others pay them based on how much work is done. Independent contractors generally receive a higher salary compared to regular employees. But then, independent contractors don’t have the work benefits that only hospitals and other medical establishments offer their employed MTs.
Now that speech recognition technology is introduced in the world of transcribing, this has ignited some doubt about the career. But then, unlike humans, the software is prone to mistakes as they are not able to analyze or question the dictation. This alone helps in establishing the positions of medical transcriptionists in the industry that the Bureau of Labor Statistics have also fortified with actual data results. This career is projected to have eleven percent employment growth rate increase from years 2008 to 2018. This is considered faster than any other employment rates, and so this may then significantly increase their medical transcriptionist salary.
With the positive employment projections and the medical transcriptionist salary, it is surely one good choice for many students. It also helps them in getting employment according to your own needs and preferences. This would certainly help in boosting its popularity ratings among the people, especially to those who are still looking for a field they would want to dedicate themselves into for a living.
