A Medical transcription professional is often referred to as a medical transcriber or as an MT (medical transcriptionist). Earlier in the late 1990s medical transcription professionals were also called as Medical language specialists or Health Information Management professionals.instagram.com
What is the work done by an MT? Well it is an MT's responsibility to convert the physician dictated medical records of patients into type written formats. Transcriptionists have to accurately transcribe information like the patient's name and the medical records have to be perfectly transcribed. MT professional also correct any inconsistencies, edit, punctuate and give a perfect finish to the medical documents. He also has to maintain a back up and log of all the transcription work done. If he has any technical doubts that need to be cleared he will have to follow up with the concerned physicians.
An MT professional does the transcription work either from home or from an MT company /unit. He works with the help of transcription equipment that includes a desk top PC, audiotape recorder/players, foot pedals etc. Audiotapes are used to playback the dictation recording and transcribing all patient data that are recorded by the physician / doctors.
Who makes a good MT? A good medical transcriptionist should ideally have strong skills in the following areas.
- Good knowledge of medical terms
- Typing skills
- Communication skills
- Office automation skills
- Accuracy in sorting/counting and number verification
- Knowledge of Grammar/punctuation
- Experience with multiple medical specialties
A medical transcription professional has to be very familiar with the dictations that he listens to most of the time. Dictations usually consist of the names of various diseases, its signs and symptoms, the different diagnostic methods and also its treatments and prevention. Besides this the transcriptionist also has to be an expert in reading various medical reports like, autopsy reports, surgery reports, pharmacology, laboratory reports, pathology reports etc. He will also have to be familiar with other advanced medical terminologies, medications, generic names, classifications, dosages and the like.
Medical transcription professionals can get the title of a Certified Medical Transcription's (CMT) by passing a certification examination that is conducted only by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). The AHDI was formerly known in the name of American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT). Medical transcription professionals can even choose to specialize in any one of the different medicine specialties and further enhance their value.
