Medical Transcription - Is it a legitimate work-at-home job?

The medical transcriptionist is part of the medical record team of each patient. After your patient visit, your healthcare provider is required to dictate the details of your visit to be recorded into your patient chart.

This dictation is usually done into a digital recorder and then sent via the internet to the transcription provider. The audio file is then transcribed into word processing software usually on a specialized transcription platform. After this, the text and audio files are returned to the medical facility back over the internet.

Medical transcriptionists are also called medical language specialists. They need to be familiar with medical terminology and pharmacology as well as have good computer, spelling, and grammar skills.

Having readable, concise medical records benefits the patient as well as the health care provider. This helps your health care staff better serve you as well as provides you with more understandable medical documentation for your own records or if any legal issues arise.

Some MTs have learned on the job while performing other office duties such as general reception work.

Most MTs need specific training to learn medical terminology as well as practice with transcribing reports.

There are reputable on-line schools that will give you the education you need to get your foot in the door of this field. However, there are also a lot of scams promising you a pie-in-the-sky, work-at-home dream without providing you the proper education and practice. See links below for more info on the online education opportunities.

Many community colleges also have a two-year degree program for health information, which will teach you medical coding and billing as well as transcription. Some also have certificates you can earn in one or all of these specialties if you don't want the full two-year degree.

It is really up to you to decide the best fit for your needs.

MTs who work in-house at a hospital or other facility are generally paid an hourly wage based on their experience and the area of the country they are in.

MTs who work at home as employees or independent contractors are usually paid by production on a per line basis. The line is generally calculated as a 65 character line.

A beginner just out of school may start as low as .05 cents per line with increases as they gain experience. Mid range pay is around .07 to .08 cents per line. MTs with more experience as well as those who have worked in a more difficult specialty such as cardiology or neurology may earn more.

MTs who gain speed with typing and utilize templates and other word processing shortcuts are the ones who make the most of their typing time.

As an employee you most likely will be required to type between 1000 to 1200 lines per day. This makes the base pay at mid range $70 per day before taxes.

Many MTs think a per line rate is unfair. But it is the system that most employers who hire at-home workers utilize as they have no other way to measure the employee's production.

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