 Welcome to MTatHome Medical
Transcription Training School:
MTatHome Medical
Transcription School has been training in the medical transcription career field since 1997. We
specialize in only medical transcription to give our students 100% of the proper training they would need. As
technology has improved so did the way a medical transcriptionist transcribed the 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.
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.
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.
How does a Medical
Transcriptionist get paid?
Medical transcriptionists are 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 reports. This is because the transcribed reports 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 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’s 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 HIPPA 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, HIPPA 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?
Of course 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, HIPPA 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 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.
If you have already done your
research on medical transcription and are ready to get started with your
career click
here to enroll with MTatHome or you can call our toll free number 1-866-698-5667 (In
the USA) or 1-214-309-1700
(Local and outside of the USA) to enroll by phone.
Our school office is open from 9
AM to 9 PM Central standard Time. We are closed on Sundays.
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