Health Careers
Medical Transcriptionist
Professional Activities
Medical Transcriptionists are healthcare professionals with an expertise in medical language. Medical Transcriptionists transcribe spoken words into comprehensive records that accurately communicate medical information. Medical transcription is the act of transcribing from oral to written form the record of a person’s medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, and outcome.
The primary skills necessary for performance of quality transcription are extensive medical knowledge and understanding, sound judgment, deductive reasoning, and ability to detect medical inconsistencies in dictation. The Medical Transcriptionist questions, seeks clarification, verifies the information, and enters it into the report.
Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy and physiology, disease process, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and internal organization of medical records. A Medical Transcriptionist is a medical language specialist who must also be aware of standards and requirements that apply to health records, as well as the legal significance of medical transcription.
Most Medical Transcriptionists are employed in doctors’ offices, public and private hospitals, medical transcription businesses, clinics, laboratories, radiology and pathology departments, insurance companies, government medical facilities, veteran’s medical facilities, and associated healthcare industries. Some Medical Transcriptionists choose to work at home as employees of transcription businesses; others provide services as independent contractors.
Educational Requirements
- High school diploma or GED is required.
- Medical transcription certification is recommended, but not required.
- Some employers require specific college courses.
Academic Programs
Certifications:
The Associaton for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers two voluntary certification exams to individuals. Individuals who wish to become Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMTs) should have 2 years of acute care (or equivalent) transcription experience. This exam is considered a level 2 exam. The Registered Medical Transcriptionists (RMTs) exam is available for recent graduates of medical transcription education programs, or MTs with fewer than two years’s experience in acute care. This exam is considered a level 1 exam. Individuals interested in this exam may not hold a CMT credential.
Courses in Medical Transcription are available at:
University of Alaska Anchorage
Allied Health Programs
Medical Assisting Department
3211 Providence Drive - AHS 166
Anchorage, AK 99508
Contact: Robin Wahto
Phone: (907) 786-6932
Email:
Web site: http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/ctc/programs/alliedhealth/ma/
Contacts
Inquiries Regarding Careers and Certification:
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
4230 Kieman Avenue, Suite 130
Modesto, CA 95356
Phone: (209) 527-9620
Toll free: (800) 982-2182
Fax: (209) 527-9633
Email:
Web site: http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/index.cfm
This page was last updated by Janice Troyer on July 01, 2008
