Medical transcriptionist refers to an individual in the health profession who deals with the process of transliterating voice-recorded medical reports dictated by nurses, physicians and other healthcare practitioners that relate to patients’ visit. Over the years, the need to transcribe medical reports has kept increasing compelled by the desire to adopt electronic record-keeping that has proved useful. In general, this paper seeks to analyze the trends related to the job including education, licensing, salary range, challenges, and rewards related to the profession among others.
Question 1: Trends Related to Education as well as Licensing Requirements
The increasing demand for the medical transcriptionists has led to a surge in the enrolment rate which has popularized online classes. Students can either take their training online or attend regular classrooms, but the current trend indicates that most learners prefer to take online classes. The duration for studies takes between six to nine months before certification while an associate who pursues applied science in the field takes a standard two years ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). The curriculum has also changed to incorporate medical reporting, physiology medical terminology, anatomy, and health records. For successful completion of syllabus before certification, one must have covered all the above units.
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Another significant trend in the training of medical transcription is that more institutions have received certification to offer training for the course and they include home-study courses, community colleges, and vocational schools. The trends in licensing requirements indicate that licensing requirements focus on one’s education, testing as well as experience in the field. Online classes in medical transcription come in many versions including interactive virtual classes, self-spaced, live-streamed, and self-motivated options (“ Medical transcriptionists”, 2018). Medical transcription remains a very dynamic field as the medical terminology keeps changing which has made mandatory for the practitioners to re-certify by taking a re-credentialing course and excelling in the accompanying exams before the expiry date attached to their current certification. Further, one has to meet all the requirements as stipulated by the particular state which vary from one to the other. Overall, medical transcriptionists continue to gain prominence even as the world moves towards the adoption of digitization of medical procedures in various hospitals as a way of improving service delivery.
Question 2
Employment Opportunities
The current employment trends indicate a decline within the occupation. 2014 projections reported a possible decrease by 2.6% by the year 2024 to give the new figure of 67, 800 openings ( Statistics, 2014). Overall, future employment trends point to a worse future regarding job prospects than it was in 2012.
Job Growth And Career Requirements
Trends in job growth for medical transcriptionists indicate that many qualified medical transcriptionists expand their professional duties by turning into quality assurance specialists, department heads, managers, supervisors as well as proprietors of medical transcription businesses. Notably, others grow to become instructors in various educational institutions that offer the course. The career requirements, on the other hand, have become more emphatic on computer technology even as institutions of healthcare embrace electronic record keeping ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). As such, Medical transcriptionists must have a thorough knowledge of major computer operations to survive in the current job market.
Question 3
The D.C Metropolitan offers lots of training opportunities for the medical transcriptionists considering the increasing number of vocational institutions that offer the same course at an affordable fee. All medical schools in D.C also offer courses in the field which makes it available at the most convenient location within the locality. The average length of training lasts between six to nine months for certificate courses while it takes two years to earn a degree in the same course. Medical transcription classes cost $2,500 to $ 12,000 cumulatively for tuition with residency increasing the costs slightly ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). Some people also pursue the medical transcription classes online to avoid the non-resident costs with majority of the programs going for $2, 000 to $5,000. Medical transcription has a very high return on investment considering that practitioners in the field can earn up to $ 51, 640 annually and higher production employees stand a chance of earning even more in the field ( Statistics, 2014). When broken down further, figures indicate that the average pay for a medical transcription stands at $15.28 per hour. However, skills in pathology and neurology increase the pay in the field as well as the experience of the practitioner.
Question 4
North Virginia has a total of 206, 300 jobs in medical transcription that pay a salary of $39,180 annually, which translates $ 18.83 per hour ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014).
Question 5
The greatest reward for a medical transcriptionist is the flexible nature of the job that allows one to work from home. Most professionals work on a contractual basis, which enables them to work from home thus attracting many packages. For instance, one saves a lot of money that would have otherwise gone towards transport costs (“ Professional medical transcription services”, 2016). Notably, traveling to and from work comes at a heavy cost, which a medical transcription professional avoids while working from home. Furthermore, one has enough time to interact with family. Many jobs keep their employees at their respective job places for hours and allow them time to interact with their family in the evening after job, which places a toll on their social relations and overall health. Medical transcriptionists, on the other hand, have all the time to interact with their families while still making a decent earning from their job at the comfort of their homes.
Importantly, since medical transcriptionist works from home, they choose their preferred working time while utilizing the rest from other ventures. A person can pursue other ventures while still working as a medical transcriptionist, for instance, business. The side venture helps to increase income for the individual and also increases one’s productivity. Pursuing own venture has always posed a challenge for individuals employed on a full-time basis as they have to devote all their time to the organization ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). Equally important to note is that medical transcriptionists can work from anywhere due to the flexible nature of their jobs. The individuals can also venture into established firms that offer transcription services and turns themselves from employees to employers. A firm that provides such services can work for a variety of individuals ranging from pharmacists, medical schools, dentists among other professionals.
Despite the advantages, medical transcription also has a downside. Indeed, the invention of electronic record keeping and the voice transcribing the machine means professionals in the field face the reality of losing their jobs shortly. Many healthcare institutions have adopted the electronic record keeping technology and also installed the voice transcribing machines that come at a cheaper cost compared to hiring a medical transcriptionist ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). Future projections further indicate a declining trend in job vacancies for medical transcriptionists owing to the introduction and adoption of the technology.
Moreover, medical transcriptionists receive poor remuneration that cannot sustain them in this current economy. Earning $18.28 an hour makes it difficult for individuals to meet their demands unless they engage in other side ventures such as businesses to supplement their income ( Zimmerman, 2017). The meager pay makes most of the practitioners to live miserable lives compared to their counterparts in other areas.
Another downside to working as a medical transcriptionist is that most of them work on a contractual basis, which makes it difficult for one to receive retirement benefits as it happens with individuals on permanent and pensionable jobs. At times, medical transcriptionists face the challenge of employers refusing to renew their contracts leaving them jobless ( Conerly-Stewart and Ireland, 2014). Overall, working on contractual terms creates job insecurity that makes it difficult for the employees to secure loans and make savings for their retirement as most lenders prefer individuals with secured loans as a guarantee of repayment.
Question 6 Personal Interview
Interviewer: How do you feel working as a medical transcriptionist?
Respondent: It feels great, and I am grateful to have chosen this career.
Interviewer: How would define a typical day working as a medical transcriptionist?
Respondent: I wake up in the morning, take breakfast, run errands, and when the children are off to school, I power my laptop and get to work. I work for five hours a day and afterward engage in other activities.
Interviewer: What are some of the challenges that you experience working a medical transcriptionist?
Respondent: Job insecurity is the greatest of them all considering I work on a contract basis, and it is not a guarantee that the employer will renew my contract. That makes it extremely difficult for me to secure loans with various financial institutions.
Interviewer: What prospects do you look forward to in the job?
Respondent: I want to establish a firm that will be offering medical transcription services. I want to create employment for other people and also train them how to edit transcriptions now that the risk of losing jobs due to electronic record keeping is becoming real by the day.
Interviewer: What is your advice to individuals who want to pursue a career in medical transcription?
Respondent: I advise them to diversify their field and not focus on medical alone. They can consider having transcription knowledge in law, economics and any other field to ensure that they have increased their options in the employment market.
References
Conerly-Stewart, D., & Ireland, P. (2014). Forrest General Medical Center Advanced Medical Transcription Course . Cengage Learning.
Medical transcriptionists. (2018). Washington: U.S. Superintendent of Documents. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Collection Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2091716442?accountid=45049
Professional medical transcription services. (2016). Boca Raton: Netwise Data. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Collection Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1984838049?accountid=45049
Zimmerman, R. S. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,632,992 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Statistics, L. (2014). US Department of Labor. Dostępne w internecie: http://www. msha. gov. Dostęp w dniu , 10 .
