What is Medical Transcription?

Medical Transcription in simple terms could be explained as the entry of case histories, diagnosis, prescriptions etc. given by the physicians/surgeons after evaluating the condition of the patients. However, unlike the simple entry of text into the computer, here the doctors dictate the analysis of the patient, which should be transcribed by a Medical Transcriptionist (into a Word document).

Nowadays because of the stringent health care laws and a strong insurance sector, it has become mandatory to have a detailed case history of the patient including the diagnosis, prescriptions and any other postoperative and preoperative reports. Since the wage levels in developed countries are very high the amount spent in generating one case history goes to hundreds of dollars, which is not economically viable for large hospitals that require thousands of reports everyday.

The alternative solution for these hospitals is to offload the documentation part to some private agencies or companies who can handle it on a fixed amount for every line of transcription. This business was slowly transferred to the third world countries in the Asian Continent mainly because of good knowledge of English and computer awareness.

The operation will be managed and assisted by a specialist team of Data Entry level operators called Medical Transcriptionists, with sound knowledge of spoken English and knowledge of medical terms. A Medical Transcriptionist interprets and transcribes dictation by physicians and other health care professionals regarding patient assessment, work up, therapeutic procedures, clinical course, diagnosis, prognosis etc., editing dictated material for grammar and clarity, as necessary and appropriate. Added to this, he/she should have good knowledge of data entry through Computers using any word processor like MS Word.

A Manager qualified in Information Technology and having sound knowledge of Medical terminology and the technical terms associated with it will be heading the operation.

Source:http://www.taurusdatalinks.com/overview.htm

IN OTHER WORDS:


Medical Transcription is transcribing medical audio files into Word Documents according to the template provided by the institution. Transcribing follows a standard set of rules and are subject to confidentiality.

A medical transcriptionist is the person trained to transcribed medical audio files. He/she must take first training, and then must take a certification exam in order to be a CMT (Certified Medical Transcriptionist). Here in the Philippines, the TESDA is the government agency that issues the NC2 certification for MTs in order for them to start working as MTs.