MTatHome medical
transcription school offers medical transcription course options that can be done at
home with online access.
We combine textbooks,
CDs, and online access to our student area to give you the best training
possible.
MTatHome Medical Transcription School has been
training in the medical transcription career field since 1997.
We specialize in
only medical transcription. The reason for this is to give our students 100% of the
proper medical transcription
course training they need to become a qualified medical
transcriptionist.
As technology has
improved so did the way a medical transcriptionist would transcribe medical
dictations. Medical dictations have gone
from the tape method to the digital method over the last several years. This has opened
many doors for MTs to be able to work from their home for doctors that are hundreds or even
thousands of miles away. This can be done with your computer and having Internet access to
download and upload the digital work files.
Now that medical
dictations are done digitally vs. the older method of cassette tapes; an MT used a digital foot
pedal that connects to the computer through the USB port. The digital foot pedal (transcriber)
is what an MT will use to fast forward, play, and rewind the digital medical dictations. This
allows you to have your hands free to do the transcribing of the medical dictations. There are a
few doctors that do still use the tape method. However, it is very rare. Most doctors will use
the digital transcription method.
More jobs are opening up for the medical transcriptionist (MT) because they do
not have to live within a certain radius to pickup and drop-off the dictations and finalized
reports. In today’s world, a medical transcriptionist can live in California and work for a
doctor that is based out of Maryland, Florida or any other state. This has created many job
opportunities for new MTs.
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Study the medical transcription course at your own
pace.
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Student support by
phone, email and live chat.
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Job &
resume assistance upon completion of the
medical transcription course.
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You will receive a
certificate when you complete the medical transcription training.
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You will have live
mentors that have been training in the medical transcription career field for over 13
years.
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No time limit to
complete our course.
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You can re-take any of
the tests at no additional charge.
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The US Department of Labor
says that the Medical
Transcription career field will have
strong growth over the next several years.
Below is a quote from their
website.
"Job
opportunities will be good. Employment in the medical transcription
career field is projected to grow faster than average for all occupations
through 2014. Demand for medical transcription services will be
spurred by a growing and aging population. Older age groups receive
proportionately greater numbers of medical tests, treatments, and procedures
that require documentation."
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We encourage you to do research on the medical
transcription career and compare us to other schools.
MTatHome is very up
front about both the career and what training you will or will not need. We feel it is
important for anyone considering the medical transcription career field to do research to make sure
this is the right career for you. While we are one of the best medical transcription schools
and have been training for over 13 years; we are not the only one. There are
several good schools that teach this career field. One of the most important things you
should look for is that they teach by AHDI standards! We make it mandatory that all of our
students learn the AHDI Book of Style. You also want to make sure they teach with
authentic doctor dictations in digital format (not
tapes).
What does it take to be a Medical Transcriptionist?
It takes dedication and self-discipline. You will have to be able to get your work done within the
time scheduled that is needed. The doctor you work for will expect you to get your work done by the
deadline time they give you. In most cases you can create your own schedule and do the work during
the day or at night as long as it gets done on time. However, there are some companies that may
require you to login while you are transcribing your reports and then log out when you’re done. In
those types of cases you would be required to be on schedule.
Medical transcription is not for everyone. Medical transcription can be a very
rewarding career; however you do need to have an interest in the medical field to succeed as an MT.
The MTs that are successful are usually very organized and very self-sufficient. They do not
require someone looking over their shoulder telling them when to get the work done or how to do
it.
Successful MTs need to have the ability to do research on medical terms, drug
names, and any other medical related information pertaining to the dictation that they are
transcribing. A lot of this research can be done through the use of the Internet and other types of
research can be done through having the correct reference books at hand.
Medical transcription can be a very interesting and rewarding career for those that
have an interest in the medical field. Anyone considering becoming a medical transcriptionist
should do their research to make sure that this is the right career option for them.
You want to know as much as you can about the Medical Transcription Career.
How does a Medical Transcriptionist get
paid?
The Medical Transcriptionist is paid by the character line in most cases. It is important to have a
high accuracy percentage on the medical reports that you transcribe. Most doctors do require that
you have 98% accuracy or better on the completed medical report. This is because each of the
transcribed reports will go into the patient’s permanent medical file.
A patient’s medical file needs to have accurate information about their visit with
the doctor, current medications, past medications, any medical test that they had done, as well as
any medical diagnosis the doctors have given them. Inaccurate medical reports can lead to
malpractice suits or confusion with future doctors when they refer back to past reports.
When you’re getting paid by the character line is important that you are able to
type at a minimum of 65 wpm or better. However, your typing speed is not as important as your
accuracy percentage. Your typing speed is what is going to help determine your average pay per
hour; yet if you have a low accuracy percentage you will have a hard time keeping a job as an
MT.
There are programs out there to help increase your typing speed. You can use a
medical text expander that will help you get more work done in less time. The way medical expanders
work is that you can create abbreviation shortcuts that will expand out complete medical phrases,
terms, and even report templates. These programs can range anywhere between a hundred dollars to
several hundred dollars or more.
There is one program that we do recommend called Speed Type that is reasonably
priced and works very well for MTs. You can also create macros, templates, and styles in Microsoft
Word that will help increase your performance as a medical transcriptionist.
A well-trained medical transcriptionist can make up to $50,000 or more a year. This
will depend on your medical transcription knowledge, how fast you type, your experience, and your
medical transcription credentials. Overtime you can increase your credentials by taking exams
through AHDI.
Most new MTs will not start out at the high the pay rate per year. However, you can
make a nice living working at home as a medical transcriptionist even during your first year. It is
the same thing if you went to college and got a degree specializing in a certain career field; you
would not expect for your first job to be at the highest pay range. That would come with time and
experience. The same thing holds true for new MTS.
It will take a little time to reach the higher pay rate scale. The average hourly
pay is between $12 and $17 an hour for new MTS. This will depend on your typing speed, knowledge,
and how much the doctor is paying you per character line. New MTs that are averaging on the higher
pay scale are usually using tools to help them produce more work in less time such as medical text
expanders.
What is a medical transcriptionist expected to
know?
You will need to know the anatomy of the human body, medical abbreviations, medical terminology,
pharmacology, and HIPAA laws. Knowledge of the current grammar, style and format for medical
transcription is very important. Every medical transcriptionist should have AHDI’s Book of Style
for the medical transcriptionist. You should also have a good medical dictionary and prescription
drug reference CD or book. We recommend Stedman’s medical dictionary and Saunders pharmaceutical CD
or book.
In our medical transcription training courses we require that each student have the
AHDI books and a medical dictionary. These are very important items that every successful medical
transcriptionist should have loaded in their computer or have on their desk.
It is important to know the medical transcription is like any other medical career
field, successful MTs need to keep up with any changes in the medical field that pertain to their
career. Physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals are always increasing their knowledge
of any new prescription medications, medical conditions, HIPAA laws or other important information
that pertains to their career. The same is true for the medical transcriptionist; it is important
that you keep up with any medical information for your career in which you are required to
know.
What are the different types of Medical
Transcription Credentials?
MT - A person that completes a medical transcription course with proper
training receives a certificate of completion and is working as a medical transcriptionist. Every
RMT and CMT started out as an MT which stands for Medical Transcriptionist. Some MTs have worked
for years without getting credentials as an RMT or CMT, however with the evolving changes in
today’s world; we highly recommend after completing your medical transcription course that you take
your career to the next level by becoming an RMT and then later a CMT.
RMT- A person that has taken a medical transcription course with
proper training receives a certificate of completion and has taken the RMT (registered medical
transcription) exam through AHDI and passed. Once they pass the RMT exam they can put the RMT after
their name. For example: Katie Robertson, RMT
CMT - An MT or RMT that has worked in the medical
transcription career field for at least two years and then has taken the CMT exam through AHDI and
passed. Once they pass the CMT exam they can put the credentials of CMT after their name. For
example: Katie Robinson, CMT
Many MTs will take their career further by becoming RMT or CMT. We recommend to our
students that they work as an MT for at least 3 to 6 months before taking the RMT exam to gain more
hands-on experience. To become a CMT you will need to have taken a medical transcription course as
described above and have worked as an MT or an RMT for at least two years to meet the AHDI
requirements for taking the CMT exam.
Increasing your credentials in the medical transcription career field is much like
a nurse going from an LVN to an RN. Increasing your credentials not only shows that you are serious
about your career is also shows your potential employers that you are up to date on the knowledge
that medical transcriptionist should have.
What is the first step in becoming a medical
transcriptionist?
The first step in becoming a medical transcriptionist is to get proper medical transcription
training and become an MT. MTatHome is rated one of the best medical transcription schools in
giving proper training, hands on practice with authentic Dr. dictations, training in the proper
style and format, anatomy, pharmacology, medical terminology, training in the different types of
medical reports, medical abbreviations, HIPAA laws, and much more.
We do recommend doing research on the different medical transcription schools
available to you. It is important to research different schools and information on the career field
when making such an important decision for your future.
Even though we are rated one of the best medical transcription schools online,
there are several reputable schools that train in medical transcription. Just be cautious when
doing your research because there are also scams out there.
You want to make sure that the school you choose has been around for a while and is
registered as an Accredited Business with the BBB. You also want to make sure that they offer you
support throughout your medical transcription training, and offer proper training with job
assistance support once you complete your medical transcription class.
The medical transcription school should follow the AHDI standards for medical
transcription. This is very important! AHDI formally known as the American Association for medical
transcription (AAMT) are the health documentation experts and all doctors will expect MTs to know
AHDI’s standards. These standards are in the AHDI Book of Style that we mentioned above.
One of the most important factors in choosing a medical transcription school is to
make sure they offer training with Authentic Dr. Dictations in the different medical fields. Some
schools have been known to have dictations that are read from a script and not a real doctor.
The reason why it is important to have Authentic Dr. Dictations is because doctors
are known to speak fast, mumble and even eat food while they are dictating the patient report. Some
of them may even have accents that are little hard to understand. Training with authentic dictation
will give you the hands on experience of learning how to understand what the doctor is saying so
you can properly transcribe the reports. If you are listening to a dictation that is read from a
script you will not get the hands-on experience of all the different types of situations you can
run into when working as a medical transcriptionist.
To see the MTatHome medical transcription course
syllabus of what you will learn when taking your medical transcription training through
us click here.
If you have any questions about
the medical transcription career field or our medical transcription training course please fill
free to contact
us.
You can contact us by phone, live
support from our website, e-mail, or you can fill out an information
request form online. One of our student advisors will be happy to
answer any of your questions.
Our school office is open from 9
AM to 9 PM Central standard Time.
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