Medical Transcription Proofreading Tips

Excellent proofreading skills are critical for a Medical Transcriptionist . Proofreading is looking for mistakes of all types in a transcribed document and correcting them. The most common errors a Medical Transcriptionist will be looking for include:

• Omission of important dictated words
• Selecting the wrong English or medical word
• Misspelling words
• Typographical errors
• Grammatical errors
• Punctuation errors

Proofreading skills will improve with practice. You will know what your areas of weaknesses are as you proofread and find your errors. If you find that you miss few medical words, but misspell many English words, you can improve by paying particular interest in English words as you transcribe and proofread dictation.

Consider the following four-step method to help you achieve the best results from your proofreading:

1. Look words up in reference books as you encounter them. Don’t wait until the end of the report. You will have forgotten how some of the words sounded. Search until you find and don’t go any further in your medical transcribing until you find the words you get stumped on. Leave a blank if you exhaust all resources and still cannot find your word.
2. Briefly proofread what you transcribe as it appears on the screen of your word processor or the paper you are typing on. This will help you catch missed words and typographical errors as they occur. Print out your reports on paper if you are using a word processor. It is easier to proofread the printed report on paper than it is on the screen.
3. If you just cannot find a word, leave a blank of an appropriate length, according to how long or short the word sounds. Attach a flag (a flag is a sheet of paper clipped to the report or a sticky note placed on the report which identifies all blanks, which lines of the report they are located on, and what the dictated word sounded like to you.
4. Use a medical or English spellchecker as the final step in proofreading. Spellcheckers will not catch errors such as transcribing no instead of not or transcribing ilium instead of ileum.

Excellent proofreading skills come only after continual practice to perfect. Consider the following tips:

• To avoid omitting important dictated words adjust the speed control on the transcriber unit and transcribe slowly to assure no dictated words are overlooked. Slowly increase your speed of the tape, which will increase transcription speed as you learn to keep up with the dictator.

• The tape recording (if you are transcribing from a tape) does not perfectly reproduce the human voice. Sometimes the words and phrases sound garbled or something quite different from what they really are. A Medical Transcriptionist should never transcribe what he or she “thinks” they hear. You should transcribe only what makes sense in the context of the report. Careful word searching and careful attention to word definitions help the Medical Transcriptionist to avoid selecting the wrong English or medical word. The wrong medical word can convey a wrong diagnosis for a patient. The error can be carried in the patient’s permanent medical record and cause extreme havoc and chaos. The professional Medical Transcriptionist NEVER transcribes anything that does not make sense and/or cannot be verified in a reference book. In other words, don’t just make up a word either just to fill in all the blanks. It is better to leave a blank.

• Misspelling of medical and English words can be avoided by careful proofreading and using a spellchecker.

• Typographical errors are usually the result of carelessness or attempts to type too fast rather than focusing on accuracy. Careful proofreading will eliminate typographical errors.

• Grammatical errors are hard to catch while transcribing and must be identified through careful proofreading.

• Punctuation errors can actually change the medical meaning of a sentence. Keep your punctuation references within easy reach.

Home Based Medical Transcription

Many Moms are looking for home based businesses for a variety of valid reasons. There are stay at home Moms who want to earn the household a second income, those who want to get out of the rat race, Moms who don't want to send their kids to daycare all day everyday which will save a ton of money in itself, and many more reasons.

Looking for a work at home job can be overwhelming. Many people don't even know where to start. Moms are afraid of being scammed as scams are all over the place. They want to find a real way to work from home and earn money. Some Mom's find business opportunities such as direct sales, but end up investing a lot of time and money and hardly earning anything. So, where are the good paying, real home based businesses?

A completely legitimate, serious home based job is medical transcription and it pays well. A medical transcriptionist is a person who converts a doctor's voice dictation into a typewritten format. As long as there are patients who visit doctors, there will always be a need for medical transcriptionists. In fact, it's a lucrative field as the health care industry is a trillion dollar industry. Government economists predict that job growth for medical transcriptionists will be faster than average for all careers through 2014. An aging population will need more medical care and insurance companies will continue to require more documentation by doctors, and thus transcriptionists.

In order to be a medical transcriptionist , you need to be a fast typist, fluent in English, and you must take a medical transcription course. The course can be taken in the comfort of your own home at your own pace if you choose, and can be completed in as little as 6 months. If tuition cost is a deterrent, there are schools that offer flexible payment plans. You will need to learn medical, anatomy and physiology terminology so you can understand the complex medical terms that doctor's use. To become a proficient medical transcriptionist, you will need a lot of practice and hands on experience.

Once you complete your course, you can work for hospitals or private doctor's offices. More and more hospitals and clinics are hiring medical transcriptionists that work from their home because it saves them money. Some medical transcription schools offer assistance in finding a job once you graduate. You could also look in newspapers, online classifieds, and send letters and a business card to doctor's offices and hospitals.

This is something to get into only if you are serious and dedicated. There is a lot of studying, learning, and investment of time and money involved. If you work at home as a medical transcriptionist , you will need to purchase some equipment and reference books. This is an investment in your future and will be worth it once you are making a full time income working from the comfort of your own home in your favorite pink sweatsuit. As a new medical transciptionist your pay will be lower, but once you become an experienced, proficient medical transcriptionist your pay will increase. Medical transcriptionists earned an average salary of $29,880 in 2005. The average hourly wage was $14.36

Requirements for Online MT Course

Medical Transcription Curriculum Requirements, Skills and Abilities:

High school diploma and versatile with English language.
Knowledge of medical terminology is helpful.
Average spelling, verbal communication and memory skills.
Ability to operate basic office equipment such as computer, fax, printer, foot pedal, voice recorders with good eye/hand/foot coordination.
The ability to create documents in either Microsoft Word or another Windows program.
Knowledge of internet and use of Email.
Ability to hear and follow verbal instructions and convert them in to written text.
Ability to maintain records.
Knowledge of English grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.
Good hearing skills with ability to discern what is being said or what is being meant even with accented speech.
Last but not the least average to above-average typing skills.

PC Requirements for Online MT Course

Every student would need transcription equipment that includes a headset, a footpedal, computer and transcription software. You must take this course on a PC. If you can play your files comfortably without a foot-pedal, you do not necessarily require it for training. Detailed requirements are listed below:

WindowsTM 98 or later
Internet Explorer 6.x/7.x or Firefox 2.x
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM (256 MB or higher recommended)
56 KBPS modem (Broadband-DSL cable modem recommended)
40 GB hard disk space.
Sound card and speakers (headphone port recommended)
Display mode set to 800x600 pixels with 256 colors or higher
Available USB port or serial port (for foot pedal)
Printer Port

Software Requirements:

Word-processing program - Microsoft Word is recommended.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Click here to download the Acrobat Reader.
Wave file player (Windows Media player, Express Scribe-Free download, Olympus Free DSS Player, Real Audio Player-free download) for audio files
Dorland's Medical Dictionary-Free online dictionary available
Quick Look Electronic Drug Reference 2008
Stedman's Electronic Medical Dictionary-Free online dictionary available
Internet Service Provider Account

Duties and responsibilities of a medical transcriptionist :

Transcribes accurately, utilizing correct punctuation, grammar and spelling, and edits for inconsistencies.
Accurately transcribes patient-identifying information such as name and Medical Record or Social Security Number.
Consults references and dictionaries for medical procedures, terminology, and drugs .
Has good knowledge of English Grammar and punctuation guidelines.
Keeps a transcription log with accurate details of files transcribed.
Distributes transcribed reports and collects dictation tapes if your client or job provider works on the old system of transferring voice data.
Follows up on physicians' missing and/or late dictation and corrects inaccuracies in transcribed reports.
Performs quality assurance check and keeps updated with newer technology and new medical words and procedures.
Maintains all the records on disk for backup.

A Career In Medical Transcription

You’ve very likely heard of someone who is making a good living as a medical transcriptionist . He or she might even be working from the comfort of their home. And you’ve probably asked yourself if this might be a career option for you.
It may well be. Let’s take a look at the facts.
What exactly is medical transcription ? In the course of their work, doctors and other healthcare professionals make dictated recordings of various things including physical examination observations, patient history, operative reports, referral letters, discharge summaries, observations regarding imaging data and so on.
A medical transcriptionist listens to these recordings and transcribes them into medical reports, correspondence, etc. She listens to a segment of recording, pauses the playback and keys in what is said before moving on to the next segment. She may do some editing for better grammar and clarity.
The transcribed document is sent back to the health care provider who then reviews it for accuracy and gets it signed. These documents become part of the patient’s medical history records and perhaps insurance records.
To be effective at this job, you should understand medical terminology well. That includes anatomy, pharmacology, diagnostic procedures, treatment assessments and more.
Many distance education programs, colleges and vocational schools offer post-secondary training in medical transcription . Having a degree is not essential. With a home-study course, you can usually pick up the necessary knowledge within a year, often in less than nine months.
You can find work in hospitals, laboratories, physician’s offices, firms offering transcription services, government medical facilities and so on. Working from home is also a possibility and many employers offer work-at-home options for transcriptionists. Apart from that, many individuals work as independent contractors.
With experience, it is possible to move into supervisory positions, which include editing work, teaching, consulting, etc.
What equipment would you need, if you wanted to do medical transcription at home? Not very much -- a computer with a medical spellchecker, printer, a transcriber and reference books are about all you need. To help you save on the actual typing, a word expander utility might help. If you are on a tight budget, buy second hand equipment will do just as well.
Medical transcription work does call for certain skills and mindset. Apart from basic computer skills, you must be detail oriented. If detail work bores you to tears, this might not be the career for you.
You must know typing, although speed will come with practice. You should also have excellent listening skills and grammar skills.
If you’re planning to work from home , it is essential to be comfortable with working alone and meeting deadlines. You must be a self-starter who can work consistently without being driven by a boss.
Given the growth in health practices and hospitals and the need for standardization of records, the demand for medical transcription services is likely to keep growing. You should carefully analyze the pros and cons of this field before venturing into it. Medical transcription provides a rewarding and fulfilling career for many people and it can do the same for you too.