Transcription Technology Watch

This is the first in a series of quarterly articles that will focus on technologies relevant to medical transcription. Hopefully, maybe even those MTs who are techno-phobic will find some of the topics enlightening, stimulating and/or of value in making career decisions. But maybe not. To challenge that hope, I've started off with everyone's favorite technology: speech recognition. If you want to really stimulate a transcriptionist, just say "speech recognition." Or, better yet, assert that "speech recognition will forever change the process of converting physicians' thoughts and utterances into text." Then run for cover.

Every transcriptionist out there has heard some form of that assertion. Their reactions range from dismissal to fear to anger. So what's the truth? What does the future hold? Well, at some point in the future, there will be no medical transcription. Physicians will dictate into a PC or portable device; their speech will be converted to text; and the dictator will make any necessary corrections to finalize the report. No transcription expense. No transcription delay. But that future is at least 3 years off. Just kidding. It's way more than that. However, there is a future closer than that, related to speech recognition, which has some major implications for this industry.

Doctors hate doing anything that they believe is below their stature or slows down their ability to generate revenue. So we will not see "front-end" recognition-where they correct their own mistakes as described above-in most environments for many years. But there's a new game in town. It's called "back-end" speech recognition. Physicians don't change a thing in their dictation behavior. They continue babbling into telephones or some other dictation device just like they always have. But their voice files are now run through a server-based recognition engine, a draft is produced, and a medical editor corrects the errors both in recognition and dictation.

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How to Choose a Medical Transcription School

How to Choose a Medical Transcription Course of Study

After considering all the pros and cons of becoming a medical transcriptionist, perhaps the most important decision lying before you is that of choosing your course of study. The decision to pursue training in medical transcription represents a large investment of time and money. But the end result, as with any educational pursuit, is that you are investing in yourself.

A two-year course is the norm, and the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) also recommends that this include a 240 hour externship in an actual healthcare facility. This corresponds to 6 weeks of external study in addition to the formal training already received. In addition to community colleges, there are home study courses available both online and through the use of home study materials. A course that allows you ample access to the instructor for questions and assistance is essential. Likewise, access to fellow students allows opportunities for networking and support.

If you already know medical terminology and have good grammar skills, you are more than halfway there. Sometimes we recommend to these people to obtain practice tapes or CDs to measure their skill, and some are pleased to find that they are moving along just fine after a period of adjustment and heightened listening skills. Others find that they did not know as much terminology as they thought, and for them we recommend taking a course either at a community college or via home study.

Medical Transcriptionists must sometimes edit the words of the dictating physician and make corrections where appropriate. Courses in English grammar and punctuation, anatomy, physiology, terminology, and medical transcription are necessary. The AHDI recommends that the following course topics are included as part of your training: English grammar and punctuation, medical language, anatomy and physiology, disease processes, pharmacology and laboratory medicine, transcription technology, medical transcription practice, healthcare records, privacy, ethics, and other medicolegal issues

In addition, an effective course of study should be taught by qualified professionals, preferably Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMTs) who are knowledgeable in their field. The ADHI recommends that at least 30 hours of real dictated physician reports be included in the formal training, plus an additional 10 hours of real dictated physician reports be included in the external practice module.

What about certification?
Watch out for schools that offer a "certificate". It should be clear that this is a certificate of completion of their course of study, NOT the designation "Certified Medical Transcriptionist". To learn more about Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) and Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) designation, click here.

Get references! Ask the course operators to provide you with contact information of graduated students, and follow through to see where they are today in terms of their medical transcription career. Ask them to provide you with a list of employers who have hired their graduates. This is part of your due diligence in preparing for your career in medical transcription. Contact as many schools and graduates as necessary so that you will be starting off your new career with the utmost confidence that you have made the right choice. We have heard many times from MT students who are already in a course of study who feel they should have spent more time checking out schools prior to making their choice, so don't let the excitement of entering a new field deter you from taking enough time to fully evaluate your options.

Lastly, but certainly not least, the medical transcription school that you choose should provide a job placement program. When you are contacting schools, ask them about their placement program and continued post-graduate assistance.

Are there accredited Medical Transcription Schools?
The Approval Committee for Certificate Programs (ACCP) is a joint committee that was established by The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and AHDI to approve medical transcription education programs. Ask if the school you're considering is ACCP-approved.

Melinda Decker began her medical transcription career in 1987. In 1997 she purchased and launched the domain MedicalTranscription.com for her business. In 2001, illness forced Melinda to discontinue transcribing but once recovered, she relaunched the website to assist other transcriptionists in finding jobs. The website uses a database to match the abilities of the transcriptionists to the physicians and medical facilities that hire them. In addition, the website provides information for new transcriptionists and medical practice managers, as well the the discussion forum MT Brainstorm.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/

Understanding the Profession of Medical Transcription

Understanding the Profession of Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription has existed since the beginning of medical care and research. Ancient cave writings attest to the earliest forms of healthcare documentation. While the medium changed from metal plates to clay tablets, to hieroglyphs on temple walls, to papyrus, to parchment, to paper, and most recently to electronic files, the reasons for maintaining records have always been the same-to record an individual's health care and the achievements in medical science.

Until the twentieth century, physicians served as both providers of medical care and scribes for the medical community. After 1900, when standardization of medical data became critical to research, medical stenographers replaced physicians as scribes, taking their dictation in shorthand. The advent of dictating equipment made it unnecessary for physician and scribe to work face-to-face, and the career of medical transcription began. As physicians came to rely on the judgment and reasoning of experienced medical transcriptionists to safeguard the accuracy and integrity of medical dictation, medical transcription evolved into a medical language specialty. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, medical transcriptionists are using speech recognition technology to help them create even more documents in a shorter time. Medical transcription is one of the most sophisticated of the allied health professions, creating an important partnership between healthcare providers and those who document patient care.

Medical Transcriptionists as Professionals

The industry is moving toward electronic health records, allowing storage of an individual's health history so that it can be accessed by physicians and healthcare providers anywhere.

Physicians and other healthcare providers employ state-of-the-art electronic technology to dictate and transmit highly technical and confidential information for their patients. These medical professionals rely on skilled medical transcriptionists to transform spoken words into comprehensive records that accurately communicate medical information. Sometimes speech recognition systems are used as an intermediary to translate the medical professional's dictation into rough draft. The medical transcriptionist then further refines it into a finished document.
Keyboarding and transcription should not be confused. The primary skills necessary for performance of quality medical transcription are extensive medical knowledge and understanding, sound judgment, deductive reasoning, and the ability to detect medical inconsistencies in dictation. For example, a diagnosis inconsistent with the patient's history and symptoms may be mistakenly dictated. The medical transcriptionist questions, seeks clarification, verifies the information, and enters it into the report.

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Why Work at Home as a Transcriptionist?

When many people think about doing transcription at home, medical transcription is the first to come to mind. It's a great job but requires serious training beforehand. However, there are other possibilities for people who want to do transcription.

General transcription jobs often require some training, as you need to understand formatting and practice transcribing, which is far more challenging than just typing what you hear, even when you are typing verbatim.

The challenge with transcription jobs is that most companies will want experience. It's a tough job and if you want to work at home, that means you aren't directly supervised. It makes it tough for a company to trust someone who hasn't done the job before.

Working as a transcriptionist has some advantages. Many jobs have highly flexible hours, as in most cases you will be transcribing recorded. The amount of background noise you tolerate is a personal preference, although most transcriptionists prefer to keep the noise to a minimum so that their work is heard more clearly.

All transcription jobs require tremendous accuracy. To be sufficiently accurate you need to develop an ear for transcription, which quite simply takes practice. It's amazing how much better and faster you can work once you have done this.

Obviously a transcriptionist needs great typing skills. It is not uncommon to see jobs require a minimum typing speed of 80 wpm. Of course, this is a skill you can develop on your own and there are plenty of online tests you can take to show your skills.

To build your basic skills, most community colleges have classes you can take to learn basic transcription. You can also check for online courses if you think you will study well that way. The advantage to online courses is that they most resemble your hoped for working conditions, as you will lack the face to face interaction present in a classroom.

Your equipment needs are fairly minimal. You probably already have a computer. Most companies prefer high speed internet access as in many cases you will be downloading the sound files and uploading your finished product.

You will want a foot pedal to control the dictation. Some companies will provide this while others will expect you to provide your own. The best selection for these is on eBay; just make sure you buy from a reputable seller.

You will also probably enjoy noise cancelling headphones... something to make the sounds around you a little less distracting. These are generally very easy to find. You don't need top of the line headphones, but something to cut out at least some background noise can be very helpful. But any headphones that will work with your computer will do the job if you don't care about blocking background noise.

General transcription is an excellent work at home job. With pay generally being based on production, you can be limited by the availability of work but it also means you can improve your pay by improving the speed of your work. This can be highly enjoyable yet sometimes frustrating work.

About Author :

Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.homewiththekids.com/blog/ about life working at home. Visit her site to learn more about general transcription work at home jobs.

Conference Transcription - What the conference organiser needs to know

This article aims to provide advice to conference organisers in obtaining transcription that is accurate, timely and complete. It suggests ways in which the conference organiser can help the transcriptionist to ensure that the transcription is good quality and free of errors.

The most important piece of advice I would give as a transcriptionist is that if you're going to have your conference transcribed you should arrange for completion of the transcription even before the conference even takes place! Of course you are going to want to send the transcript (or your interpretation of it) out to your speakers and delegates as soon as possible after the conference takes place, but a conference is a significant chunk of work to transcribe.

Let's take an example of a conference where the talks (and possible workshops etc.) total 5 hours. Even if you have excellent audio recording equipment and supremely clear speakers, with minimal question and answer sessions or workshops (the point of which I will explain in a moment) the time taken to transcribe is going to be four times as long as the recording - so you're looking at an absolute minimum length of time taken in this example of 20 hours. Twenty hours of work is probably a minimum of three days work for one person, and there's a very good chance it will take longer.

Now if you start ringing round transcription companies once you have the recording ready to send, and you're hoping to have the transcript returned to you in two or three days, you're probably going to be out of luck. A good, established transcription company, employing fully trained and competent transcriptionists who are able not just to type but also to proof-read and edit, recognise the correct homophones (words that sound the same but are spelt differently), and punctuate English correctly, is probably not going to be sitting there waiting for your call. Although you might strike lucky they will probably be booked up for at least a few days!

So if you book in your recording before the conference and agree to send it on a certain date, they will be able to turn it around for you much faster.

Now, why might it take longer than four times the length of the recording? There are wide variety of reasons. Four times is the industry standard for a good, clear one-to-one interview with no background noise, good recording quality and no strong accents. It also does not take into account the possibility of specialist or technical terms, with which the transcriptionist will need to become familiar. So if you have any of those issues there will be extra time involved.

Question and answer sessions are often tricky because of the range of different voices involved. This applies to the audience but also to a panel if you are having panel sessions.

What can you do to reduce the time and therefore the cost? Firstly you can make sure that you have 'roaming microphones' that can be carried around the audience, so that questions are actually audible on the recording. Also a good conference recording set-up so that your main speakers can be clearly heard and individual microphones for each member of the panel.

Another very useful tip is to provide the transcriptionist with both a speaker list and a delegate list. Then during the conference ask the chairman to ask all delegates to state their name and position before asking the question. The transcriptionist may not be sure of the spelling but can then refer back to the delegate list to insert the correct spelling into the transcript. The same applies, of course, to speakers.

It is also very useful to provide the transcriptionist with any supporting material on the conference that you have available as this will help to establish 'key words', words that may be not in common usage but particularly relevant to the topic of the conference. A good transcriptionist will also probably be able to search out most unusual words using Google or a similar search engine, but this takes extra time, and if you have already provided material to help time will be saved.

Finally, if at all possible (and you may be at the mercy of the conference venue) make a digital recording, rather than a recording on cassette tapes. Digital recordings have a variety of advantages (please see some of my other articles for details) but importantly they are usually better quality than tapes and they can be worked on by more than one transcriptionist at the same time, meaning that your transcription will be completed sooner.

Source : http://penguin-transcription.co.uk/

Does Voicemail-to-text Service Need Expensive Transcriptionists?

Recent press headlines have highlighted the fact that text messaging is increasingly dominating personal communications. That includes both person-to-person contacts via email and Instant Messaging, as well as business process applications that deliver information or important, time-critical notifications to people.

In fact, two recent federal government initiatives will only reinforce the trend towards text messaging and the need for the flexibility of UC and UM.

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Some Useful Tips For Transcription System

Follow these tips to ensure a smooth, accurate, and cost-effective transcription process.

When recording material for transcription:

• Check the recorder each time to ensure that it is working properly.
• Replace batteries periodically. Weak batteries cause fluctuation in recording speed and volume.
• Record at the recorder’s highest volume.
• Spell our participants’ and company names when applicable.
• During interviews or conferences, balance microphones between speakers or directly in front of each participant so all voices are heard by the transcriptionist.
• When recording on micro cassettes, record on the 2.5 speed for best quality.
• By not rewinding tapes once you have finished recording, we know at a glance how long each tape is, allowing us to schedule your work promptly and keep production moving.
• Tell us what the outcome of your project is so we won’t spend time and money transcribing any information that is not required.
  

Source : http://www.andersontypefast.com/

Transcription Types

Something that makes a big difference to how long it takes to transcribe an hour of recording is whether you require your transcription to be verbatim.

It's easy to think 'Well I must need verbatim transcription or I wouldn't need a transcription,' but bear in mind that verbatim transcription includes every repeated word, every 'um' and 'erm', all those 'filler' phrases like 'you know' and 'know what I mean' that may be repeated a hundred times in one interview, and can also include pauses, coughs, throat clearing etc. if required. Needless to say, this takes longer. If the transcriptionist can filter out all this stuff the transcript is quicker. Our cheapest level is what we call 'intelligent verbatim' which cuts out all these fillers but leaves the rest exactly as it's spoken. Somewhat more expensive is edited, which corrects the grammar and any mispronounced words as well as knocking out all the fillers. Here are some brief examples.

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Key Reasons Why Outsourcing Transcription Works

With the growing demand for high quality and HIPAA compliant transcription work, more and more healthcare organizations and physicians are turning towards outsourced transcription services to maintain their reports and documents.

Most in-house administrative assistants and secretaries cannot transcribe dictations as accurately as a certified transcriptionist, and you may be compromising quality and compliance as a result. Since you may also be responsible for training costs and certification for these individuals, the expense involved may overextend your budget.

Outsourcing transcription services presents one option for your healthcare organization and provides a number of benefits such as:

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Philips redefines transcription with outstanding ergonomics of new foot control range

Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) announced today the launch of its foot control range featuring best-in-class ergonomics for dictation and transcription systems. Developed in close cooperation with ergonomists and professional end users, the design sets new standards in terms of usability and user comfort. Transcriptionists can stop and start dictations with only a slight movement of the heel, without lifting the foot unnecessarily, which reduces strain, increases efficiency and optimizes the transcription workflow. The new foot control range consists of four different models, allowing users to choose the device that best suits their working practices. They provide full backwards compatibility for an easy upgrade from existing Philips foot control models.

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Choosing The Right Transcriptionist

Converting a physician’s digital recordings into electronic documents isn’t easy. With so many medical terms and industry abbreviations to know, you need a reliable transcriptionist who is familiar with these terms and can accurately document the information.

A well-trained transcriptionist can handle multiple projects from a simple one-page diagnosis to a complex multi-page consultation recap. Medical transcription services can take a close look at what your practice does, and assign the right transcriptionist to help document all of your discharges, diagnoses, prescription data, consultations, and more.

BuyerZone can help you find the right transcriptionist for your practice. Simply complete an easy form to receive a free request for medical transcriptionist quotes, and we’ll have several top providers contact you to find the best fit. Once you start receiving quotes from multiple companies, it’s time to select the one you want to work with.

Transcriptionist traits to look for
To make it easier to hone in on your decision, here are some of the things you should look for in a transcriptionist:

• Turnaround time – Whether you need a document within 1 to 2 days, or 2 to 4 hours, the transcriptionist should be able to adhere to the promised timeframe. Find out when they need to receive a project to get the quickest service and if they offer some sort of guarantee if they don’t finish the project in the expected timeframe.

• Accuracy – The medical world is one where a seemingly small error can have big consequences. You can’t afford for a transcriptionist to make a mistake with a patient diagnosis or prescription information. Always look for a transcription service that emphasizes accuracy and reviews work before submitting finished projects.
  
  
• Security – You need to protect patient data from falling into the wrong hands. Any transcriptionist you use must adhere to HIPAA regulations and uphold patient confidentiality. Make sure they send completed documents over secured web sites and learn how they protect your information on their premises.
  
  
• Audit trails – To keep track of everyone with access to your information, a medical transcription service should be able to track who opens a document, who made changes, and when. This way, you know who to approach if you have questions.
  
  
• Experience – Many medical transcription services require transcriptionists who completed a postsecondary training program at a vocational school or community college. Others may have some form of medical experience, either from a previous job or to earn extra income while in school. This ensures you have reliable personnel that will do the job right.
  
  
• Certification - Look for medical transcription companies that employ Certified Medical Transcriptionsts (CMT). The American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) makes sure its members adhere to certain standards and stay on top of industry changes.
  
  
• Consider offshore – Many transcription services hire workers outside the country. Offshore transcriptionists are less expensive, well trained, and because they live in different time zones, are available to turn around a project when a U.S. transcriptionist isn’t.
  
  
• Industry specifics – If you have frequent transcription needs for your practice, or need a transcriptionist that specializes in your area of expertise, a medical transcription service can assign a team to your business. That way, they’re familiar with your practice and notetaking techniques so they can complete jobs faster.
  
  
• Transcription methods – You’ll typically record notes onto a digital recorder or dial into a special 800 number. The transcriptionist then listens to the recording by opening an MP3 file, accessing an FTP server, or calling into the 800 number. Find out which methods the transcriptionist is most familiar with and choose the most convenient one.
  
  
• More than transcriptions – Some certified transcriptionists may also perform other medical office duties such as admit patience, schedule appointments, and other clerical responsibilies. This gives you more options if you need other services for your practice.
  

Source : http://www.buyerzone.com/

Medical Transcription Tips for Word Searching

Word searching is locating the medical word that is correct both in spelling and meaning. This is a Medical Transcription skill that takes time and practice to develop.

Tip #1:

If you find yourself unable to locate a medical word in your reference books, it might be the word has an initial letter different than the sound or initial letter you hear. For example, the v sounds very much like that of f, the letter m may actually be an x (xiphoid) and the k might be ch (ischemic).

In addition, medical terms that contain silent letters such as euthyroid, herniorrhaphy, pneumonia or words frequently mispronounced such as menstruation present a unique challenge for the Medical Transcriptionist.

Experience is often more the teacher in using available resources. The longer you remain a Medical Transcriptionist, the more proficient you will become in determining sound-alikes and locating terms with silent letters.

Tip #2:

When you are unable to locate a phrase under a particular entry, look under a related entry.

Tip #3:

When you hear a phrase you cannot understand, look first under the noun and not the adjective. Nouns usually follow adjectives. An example: If you are looking for bullous emphysema, look under emphysema (the noun) and not bullous. To find particular diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, look under disease.

An exception to the above tip is that in Latin phrases, the noun is followed by the adjective such as “fascia lata,” and “ligamentum flavum.” You would look under the first word with Latin phrases. Bacterial names are another exception in that the genus is given first, followed by the species: Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

If you exhaust all you know to do when word searching on the job, a Medical Transcriptionist should:

1. seek another transcriptionist’s opinion
2. refer to the patient’s chart
3. contact the dictating physician for clarification
4. leave a blank in the report and attach a note so that the dictator may insert the correct word
   

If you leave a blank in the report, you should flag the report by attaching a note with a paperclip. The note should list all blanks left in the report, and giving as many details as possible for ease of identification such as page and line number. The Medical Transcriptionist may also give a phonetic spelling of what the word or words sounded like to assist the dictator in filling in the blank or blanks.

The main thing to remember about word searching is to never guess at a word. A blank in the medical report does not reflect poorly on the Medical Transcriptionist who thoroughly researched for the words and exhausted all else before leaving the blank. Leaving a blank is the correct thing to do. Integrity and accuracy of the medical report is much more important than presenting documents that never leave blanks.

Source :

Connie Limon, Medical Transcriptionist. Visit us at http://www.aboutmedicaltranscription.info for more information about the unique and rewarding career choice of Medical Transcription.

Investment Authority explores new industry

The Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority (ABIA) has announced that it is partnering with two overseas companies to launch the medical transcription industry in Antigua and Barbuda.

Transcriptionists are expert in reproducing the technical terms of a medical professional after seeing a patient into a written form for future reference.

Three industry officials from Interfix Corporation and Transcription Relief Services International are expected to hold meetings on island this week, holding talks with the government and prospective business partners about the infrastructure needed to establish the industry here. Interfix provides medical transcription technology, wile Transcription Relief deals with the recruitment and training of transcriptionists.

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What is the Demand for General Transcription?

The need for general transcriptionists is good. This is due in part to the fact you’re able to take on a variety of different clients. Some transcriptionists choose to niche into a specific field such as real estate, insurance or marketing and still have plenty of work to keep them busy.

Whether you chose to concentrate on one specific field or transcribe for various fields, there are always plenty of opportunities to find clients.

As with many other service-oriented businesses, many of your clients may come from recommendations from past clients. By providing a high quality service and meeting the needs of your clients, you’ll greatly improve your chances for success in this type of business.

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Medical Transcription Practice Tapes: Ways to Achieve Proficiency in Medical Transcription

A keen sense of hearing is an ace in the game of medical transcription. A typical hearing acuity alone will not assure a 100% accuracy in the medical transcripts you produce. If you wish to master the art of medical transcription, you need to achieve a well-developed if not possess an excellent sense of hearing. In this field, you can't afford to make mistakes when you're typing what the doctor says. This is because there is a very thin line between each word's pronunciation as with the terms "a rock" and "Iraq". And, in a case like this, slight misheards could mean a difference between life and death especially when you're dealing with the patients' medicines.

We all know that it's hard to find a medical transcriptionist who is born with an excellent sense of hearing. But wait, don't get the wrong end of the stick. If you're just an average medical transcriptionist or just starting, hold on to your spirit and don't give up yet. You have a lot of potential to achieve good listening skills. As we always say "practice makes perfect". You can start training your ears by watching English TV shows or by talking to different kinds of people and study their voice patterns and pronunciations. Also, you can start listening to the varying accents in English of American, Australian, British, Mexican, or Indian doctors. Really, it's your choice. Although, the best approach is exposure to real physician dictations, you can also enhance yourself through the use of medical transcription practice tapes.

But what are medical transcription practice tapes? Actually, medical transcription practice tapes are recording and storage devices used by doctors for their dictations, which are converted as wav or voice files in the computer just like that of an mp3. But, there are also those medical transcription practice tapes being used by students in some medical transcription schools, which may be bought online. They are not really that different from those used by physicians except for the fact that they are utilized for a specific purpose. Medical transcription practice tapes as the name implies are only used for practice and not for actual transcription. They either contain simulated or real physician dictations. Medical transcription practice tapes are for the use of beginners who have no exposure to real physician dictations as well as for already established medical transcriptionists who just want to attain a higher level of competency in the field.

Although medical transcription practice tapes may be rented, the best option for beginners is perhaps to have a copy of their own. These days, you need not go to a specific store to purchase medical transcription practice tapes. They are available online from several websites that specialize in medical transcription. They usually come in two sizes, that is standard-sized medical transcription practice tapes and micro-sized medical transcription practice tapes.

The duration of dictation for these medical transcription practice tapes and the level of the terms' difficulty vary as well. As an added feature, answer keys are provided to compare your work with.

Whoever said you can't learn on your own must be bluffing. Medical transcription practice tapes can truly make a difference in your performance. In fact, for beginners, early exposure to actual dictations could give you the edge you need, and for seasoned transcriptionists, or people going back into the field of medical transcription, the extra practice will definitely improve the skills necessary to become a true medical language specialist.

Source : http://www.articlealley.com/

What Makes a Good Transcriptionist?

When you think of a transcriptionist, one of the first helpful skills that may come to mind is being a good typist. This is definitely a plus but it can also be learned if you’re not currently very fast. A good typing software program and a little practice will get you up to speed in no time.

Along with good typing skills there are a few other key traits.

Helpful Skills to be a Transcriptionist:

• Ability to apply common sense. Often times you won’t understand what the dictation is saying and you’ll need to try to put the phrase into context to figure out what the speaker means.
  
  
• A keen eye for detail. This will help in proofreading and editing to ensure you turn in the highest quality work.
  
  
• Strong work ethics. You’ll have to meet deadlines and be extremely reliable.
  
  
• Good organizational skills. If you have a lot of clients it’s important to stay organized.
  
  
• Good communication skills. For marketing your business and dealing with clients.
  
  
• Professionalism and discreetness (often times you’ll be transcribing very sensitive documents which require full confidentiality).
  
  
• Basic computer skills and the ability to get around a word processing program

Source: http://www.internetbasedmoms.com

Dictation for Transcription - Top Ten Tips

1. Use a noise-cancelling microphone if available. These cut down any background noise and aim to record only the voices speaking near to them.
   
   
2. Dictate in a quiet room, preferably alone and with as little background noise as possible. Avoid shuffling papers or tapping a keyboard while dictating as this can obscure your voice.
   
   
3. Speak clearly and don’t rush, although there’s no need to deliberately slow down from your normal speaking voice
   
   
4. You may not need to give any punctuation at all, as the transcriptionist can put this in for you, but if you’re going to give punctuation make sure you give ALL the punctuation. It’s quite disconcerting for the transcriptionist if you read a couple of paragraphs, then throw in the odd comma and full stop and then stop punctuating again. You can give all punctuation or just give full stops, quote marks and paragraphs, and allow the transcriptionist to decide where to put in commas, semi colons etc.
   
   
5. If you want the work produced to a standard format, send your transcriptionist a template or a copy of a piece of work formatted in the say way that you want this transcript formatted. Your transcriptionist can work to a variety of different templates provided by you. Just state which one at the beginning. E.g. ‘This is an email’ will tell the transcriptionist to use your email template.
   
   
6. Spell all names (at least the first time) including people’s and place names. Remember even ‘obvious’ names might be spelt more than one way e.g. Stephen Brown or Steven Browne.
   
   
7. If you require capitalisation of words that are not names do say so. Try to say the capitalisation before the word (e.g. ‘The (capital R) Regulations state that …’ instead of ‘The Regulations (capital R) state that …’ If you have words that, in your context are always going to be capitalised, you can say so at the beginning. ‘In the transcription the word Act will always be spelt with a capital letter.’
   
   
8. State ‘new heading’ when you want a new heading put in, prior to giving the heading title. E.g. ‘New heading: Focus Groups. To transcribe focus groups you will need …’ The Transcriptionist will then understand that ‘Focus Groups’ is the heading, and continue the remainder in a new paragraph below this.
   
   
9. If you want numbered paragraphs or a numbered list, state this before starting the list. E.g. ‘Numbered list. One. The bride’s veil. Two, the groom’s buttonhole’ will be transcribed as:
   
   1. The bride's veil
      
   2. The groom's buttonhole
   
   
10. If you make a mistake you can rewind and speak over the error to correct it, but if it’s only a small error it may be easier and less time-consuming to simply correct it on the tape e.g ‘Focus Groupings, sorry, Focus GROUPS, are easier to control if you …’ will be understood as ‘Focus groups will be easier to control if you …’

Penguin Transcription(http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk), part of Penguin Office Services, offers an affordable transcription service by tailoring each quote to the exact requirements of the client. The more information the client can provide us with, and the better the quality of the recording for transcription, the more affordable the transcription service will be.

Audio Recordings for Transcription - How To Get The Best Results

Whether you are recording dictation, interviews, conferences, focus groups or meetings, it is important to know how to get the best quality recording, how to find a competent transcriptionist, and what sort of costs you are looking at.

The type of transcription depends on the type of recording equipment you have. You can record on to standard audiotape, micro or mini tapes, mini-disks and digital files, which the transcriptionist plays back on a computer. If you don't already have recording equipment, bear in mind that while a mini tape Dictaphone, for instance, might be much cheaper then a fully functional digital conference recorder with several external microphones, the quality of the cheaper instrument makes it suitable only for basic dictation.

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Sri Lanka gets ready to for medical transcription services

The national training authority in Sri Lanka and a private business process outsourcing (BPO) firm plans to increase training of medical 'transcriptionists' to help tap higher value BPO work.

BPO Services has tied up with the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) to provide free medical transcription (MT) training to students from rural areas who have potential and the necessary skills.

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Start A Medical Transcription Business

A Medical Transcriptionist takes a physician's dictated notes and types them up to be put in the patient's medical file. When you consider how many patients any given doctor sees in a day you can just imagine the high demand there is for the services of an MT professional. Not to mention that medical reports are expected to be in file almost immediately and faxed to a referring physician when called for.

What skills and tools are needed to become a Medical Transcriptionist?

If you're interested in starting a business like this, you will need to find a good Medical Transcription Course at your local college or at an online school. The schooling is important, because you must be familiar with the medical terminology that physicians use on a daily basis and you won't get work without it. If you're committed to working from home you'll get it down in no time.

These training programs are usually fairly expensive but the good news is that you will come out with the skills and equipment that you need to move ahead. Check your community college as they may have courses at a far lower price.

Once you have obtained training, the next step is to decide whether you are interested in doing sub-contractor work for established MT companies or if you would like to strike out on your own and pursue your own clients.

Sub-contracting is an attractive option since you can focus on the work and not have to do all the marketing yourself. However, if you do decide to go it alone, you want to set up your own website to market your services, have a professional resume and cover letter created and come up with a plan to reach your intended clients. Your website should list your training, rates, the school you attended and any transcription experience you may have already as well as a little bio about who you are.

You may do best to market yourself locally first and then reach out into a wider market as you develop your clientele and gain valuable referrals from existing clients.

Will technology ever make the Medical Transcriptionist Job obsolete?

Possibly, but not in the near future. Despite the advances in technology and computer generated transcription programs, the field is still far from being automated and doctors and medical facilities all over the world continue to grow in their demand for trained transcriptionists.

A business as an MT is appealing for those desiring a home based career. While you are working on deadlines you do have a lot of freedom in determining your work hours. We wish you luck if you decide to move ahead towards a career in medical transcription.

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Robert Paul Williams is the Editor of Work At Home Business Website. Come Browse Our Free Article Library. Stay Informed with the Latest Home Business News, Success Tips & Strategies.