Medical transcription and editing job....

[paysensmom]

This sounds like a job that would be great to do from home. Think it would be worth taking classes for?

 

[Sadie22]

In order to do this type of work, you would need to take an AHDI-approved course such as Career Step, Andrews, or MTec. The Career Step program is offered through some community colleges. (Don't waste your time and money on any courses that are not approved by AHDI.) The training and work is not easy. It requires not only exceptional written English grammar skills but the ability to understand doctors who speak English as a second language and may not record their dictations under the best conditions. Speech recognition editing requires additional skills.

You can find further information in the transcription folder on wahm.com.

 

[poohfriend77]

I have a friend who does this. She doesn't LOVE the work, but it's a good fit for her. I will say that it's not something she does while the kids are playing in the next room. She always sends her daughter to the sitter when she's working because she has headphones on and needs to give it her full attention.

 

[SabMad]

I am in school ( Med Workshops) now for medical transcription. I am taking an online course (ahdi approved). There are three parts to their program: studying, typing, mentorship. After successful completion on the program they find you a job! It is all study/work from home. Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions. I am finishing up my typing test now. After my 6 week mentorship, I will be earning a paycheck!

 

[BoogasMom]

I used to be a full-time medical transcriptionist. I did this type of work for both hospitals and doctor's offices for 18 years. Unfortunately, the work isn't as easy as they want you to think it is. Many, many doctors have thick accents that you are going to have to learn how to decipher and, as a PP stated, it is imperative that you have an exceptional knowledge of English grammer. You also need to thoroughly know and understand medical terminology...anatomy and physiology knowledge doesn't hurt either

Don't expect to get rich off of this type of work as many "training courses" will make you think. Another warning....as voice recognition software becomes perfected and more readily available, many physicians and hospitals are no longer employing transcriptionists. It's cheaper for them to purchase and use the voice recognition software (which allows the computer to type up what they are dictating as they are speaking it) than to hire another employee. The doctors I currently work for as a certified coder (through the
AAPC) use it and they love it.

Not trying to be a downer, but just want you to go into this with your eyes wide open.

 

[bear_mom]

I've listened to doctors while they are doing dictation - beware they talk fast, there is a lot of background noise (they sometimes dictate at the nurses station) and I have a hard time understanding them sometimes and have had to ask them to reapeat themselves several times (or even go as far as spell the medication they are trying to perscribe).

Emily

 

[Sadie22]

Speech recognition software (voice recognition software) is transforming the medical transcription industry somewhat. Much dictation is run through the software and then the transcript is sent out to a service for editing by a trained medical transcription editor. Transcriptionists who will not or cannot adapt are finding much less straight transcription work available.

I work as a general transcriptionist, after having had years of in-office transcription experience. I enrolled in the Career Step course since I do some medically-related transcription in the context of my work. It is possible to break into general transcription without going through a training course, but not medical transcription. Again, this is discussed in the transcription folder on wahm.com and on some dedicated transcription forums linked in others' signatures on wahm.

 

[kydisneyfans]

You may consider billing/coding as an option too.
My wife works from home for a major hospital chain here and makes VERY nice money. She never went to college but has taken many courses and her desk is full of certifications.

The hospital is looking to hire 7 more and cannot find quality candidates.

 

[Sadie22]

I hear from other coders that it is almost impossible to gain employment working at home as a new coding graduate. Most employers require that a coder gain several years of in-house experience before working at home.

 

[cndij]

Just wanted to reinforce what others have said about the software. I work at a large hospital and we own quite a few Drs. practices as well and for more than 2 years they have been using voice recognition software with an editing service. So while the work hasn't completely gone away yet, I wouldn't count on it as a growing industry. You might better look into work converting medical records to electronic, that is going to be years of work to get the backlog converted.

 

[cndij]

I forgot to mention that as the "teeth" in the HIPPA laws get stronger, it will be extremely hard to prove that your home is a "secure" environment for protecting a patient's private information, and I think that sector will go away entirely (home transcription). HIPPA has been around for a while, but the enforcement and penalties are just now hitting really hard.

 

[Pooh2]

You might better look into work converting medical records to electronic, that is going to be years of work to get the backlog converted.

How does this work? Do you scan in the records, or retype everything in the record?? Is that a work from home job?

I completed a 2 year MT program at the local community college about 5 years ago. I could not get job in the field after completing the program so I got a general office job, which I just lost last week. I am just starting to look into transcription, medical or general again.

 

[bemily]

Hi

I am a work-at-home medical transcriptionist/editor.. I am also self-taught, have never taken a course...

I make a healthy weekly paycheck, but I work hard. Some people think that since you work at home you can do twenty other things, including going out to lunch , but that is not reality. I actually overnight now so I can be around during the day for all my kids activities, etc, but dont have to worry about leaving the house to go to work, etc..Not something I want to do forever, but great for now!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask or p.m. me!

 

[Kathi Mora]

Positively!

Since the job is pretty complex and involves the knowledge of clinical terminology, prior experience in the medical field or completing a medical transcriptionist training program is absolutely vital to get your foot in the door. Once you prove yourself to your employers, you will see your career take off!

 

[ekmom]

A friend of mine has done medical transcription at home for many years but recently she has had to change careers. It's simply dying out and the big hospital near us has largely eliminated it.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

I have been doing MT for over 10 years. For the past almost 9 years, I worked for the same place being paid by the hour (not great but not bad hourly pay and I worked from home). Our offices just closed so I've been out of work for about 4 weeks now. I have found a couple MT positions that pay by the line and it works out to about HALF (or even LESS than half) of what I was making previously by the hour. Not worth it. Not sure what I'm going to do now... I'll keep looking for MT work that pays decent, but I just don't know if it exists anymore. Like other posters have said, a lot of places going to voice recognition software. (Although I don't know how on earth computers can understand half the doctors that I can't even understand with their thick accents.)

 

[Sadie22]

Speech recognition software (voice recognition software) is transforming the medical transcription industry somewhat. Much dictation is run through the software and then the transcript is sent out to a service for editing by a trained medical transcription editor. Transcriptionists who will not or cannot adapt are finding much less straight transcription work available.

There will always be a need for trained MTEs to edit the transcripts that are produced by the speech recognition software. The industry is evolving to meet the requirements of the HIPAA and HITECH laws and the electronic medical records which will benefit us all. Hospital jobs still exist in some places. Some online services hire employees for payment by the hour or by the line and some hire independent contractors for payment by the line. Payment for SR editing is about half of the transcription rate. Text expanders such as Instant Text and Shorthand help with both transcription and SR editing so that a skilled person with a good collection of expander glossaries can do well.

 

[Kathi Mora]

Medical transcription is a great work-at-home job. But I don’t think it’s very easy. You need to not only understand complex medical jargon that doctors use, but also interpret it correctly and put it in the right context. Additionally, you need excellent typing and language skills for this job.

Taking classes to learn medical transcription editing is the right way forward. In case you haven’t yet decided on the school, I would suggest Career Step. It’s a leading school for medical transcription and other allied healthcare occupations training!

 

[Tweevil]

You may consider billing/coding as an option too.
My wife works from home for a major hospital chain here and makes VERY nice money. She never went to college but has taken many courses and her desk is full of certifications.

The hospital is looking to hire 7 more and cannot find quality candidates.

I hear from other coders that it is almost impossible to gain employment working at home as a new coding graduate. Most employers require that a coder gain several years of in-house experience before working at home.

Our local hospital facility is looking for coders and it is near impossible to find someone who is willing to do the ICD10 coding once it becomes required. A lot of current coders are getting ready for retirement because they do not want to learn the new guidelines. Who wants to code a spaceship encounter anyway?!? LOL This is a hot area to get into - find an accredited college that offers interships and you can basically write your own wage in a little over 20 months. Also most places offer telecommuting as a way to do coding from home. It is a HUGE opportunity as facilities are "stealing" coders from each other due to the lack of coders available. In my rural area I have seen coding wages (ICD9) anywhere from 30 to 50 dollars an hour - most are per diem and you make your own hours. Just be sure the coding class is for hospital coding and not a fly by night online telecourse....

 

[Sadie22]

It usually is required that new coders work onsite for a couple of years before working from home. Your community's practices are unusual, Tweevil.