Medical transcription schools (degree, costs, graduates, accredited)
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I would go with options accredited by the National Association for Medical Transcriptionists and of those options choose one of the three colleges versus trade/technical schools so that your credits (or some/most of them) transfer should you wish to apply them to another degree later on.
I would go with options accredited by the National Association for Medical Transcriptionists and of those options choose one of the three colleges versus trade/technical schools so that your credits (or some/most of them) transfer should you wish to apply them to another degree later on.
Can anyone recommend a good line medical transcription program? And should I only consider one that is accredited?
Are you considering medical transcription as a career?
If so do some serious research.....
I have been a healthcare provider for over 25 years and I have seen a serious decline in medical transcription services over the years....
When I started out all of my notes were transcribed by an in-house transcription service either by phone or hand held recorder on tape and then digital cards....
Over the past 5-7 years all transcription services have been largely phased out....
Newer electronic medical records now primarily use voice recognition software like Dragon or we type into ready made templates for quick notes.
I work for one of the largest health care institutions in the country and we have essentially stopped using medical transcription services
Can anyone recommend a good line medical transcription program? And should I only consider one that is accredited?
I have a cousin who did medical transcription for many years. She says the job has been almost completely phased out, the majority of transcriptionists are now speech recognition editors, and they are paid a tiny fraction of what they were paid before. The transcriptionists that haven't become editors are becoming medical scribes instead, or leaving the field entirely. She says it isn't worth going into anymore, but your miles may vary.
I have a cousin who did medical transcription for many years. She says the job has been almost completely phased out, the majority of transcriptionists are now speech recognition editors, and they are paid a tiny fraction of what they were paid before. The transcriptionists that haven't become editors are becoming medical scribes instead, or leaving the field entirely. She says it isn't worth going into anymore, but your miles may vary.
That may be true, I guess these medical transcription schools are still trying to do business,they may not care if graduates of the program can get jobs. If that's the case, I would only consider paying under $1,000 for this type of program, not the $3,000 that was quoted to me by one school recently.
I do transcription now (non-medical) and it requires doing some internet research, formatting documents, using correct punctuation, as well as understanding different speech patterns, accents, odd speech such as street lingo, etc. I don't think speech recognition editors could do all this alone. It can't be outsourced as they require people who are native English speakers and the job ads even say you have to live in the US to do the work.
I do know that a lot of medical billing and coding is outsourced to India now. Yes, there's a demand for it, but that demand is met by outsourcing.
That may be true, I guess these medical transcription schools are still trying to do business,they may not care if graduates of the program can get jobs. If that's the case, I would only consider paying under $1,000 for this type of program, not the $3,000 that was quoted to me by one school recently.
I do transcription now (non-medical) and it requires doing some internet research, formatting documents, using correct punctuation, as well as understanding different speech patterns, accents, odd speech such as street lingo, etc. I don't think speech recognition editors could do all this alone. It can't be outsourced as they require people who are native English speakers and the job ads even say you have to live in the US to do the work.
I do know that a lot of medical billing and coding is outsourced to India now. Yes, there's a demand for it, but that demand is met by outsourcing.
Actually, a lot of the medical transcription that is still being done is, indeed, being outsourced (and has been for years) to India, the Philippines, and more recently to Caribbean nations. Quality is not the first consideration in selecting a transcription service. Cost is the first consideration. Native proficiency in English is not as important in the selection of a transcription provider as one would hope.
Voice recognition software isn't perfect, and that is why many former transcriptionists are now "editors," correcting the errors made by VR. Editors are paid at a very low rate. Even the few straight typing transcription jobs that remain don't pay very well anymore, and the pressure to reduce costs is reducing the line rate even more as time goes on.
There are a lot of trained, experienced medical transcriptionists who are unemployed or underemployed because of the "progress" being made in the industry. It is hard for a newly trained transcriptionist to compete with them for the few jobs that remain. Employers would rather hire someone with experience who doesn't need any further training or hand-holding (which all newbies do, regardless of what the training programs tell you--they do not teach you everything you need to know). Experiences transcriptionists are not paid any more than newly trained transcriptionists, so companies will choose the applicant with experience over the new graduate.
Actually, a lot of the medical transcription that is still being done is, indeed, being outsourced (and has been for years) to India, the Philippines, and more recently to Caribbean nations. Quality is not the first consideration in selecting a transcription service. Cost is the first consideration. Native proficiency in English is not as important in the selection of a transcription provider as one would hope. .
The transcription company I work for won't hire anyone who does not live in the USA. They require that you be a native English speaker as well. That is because the transcription I do, the people in the recordings use a lot of slang terms, street talk and colloquialisms that a person in India wouldn't recognize. This is non-medical transcription however.
The transcription company I work for won't hire anyone who does not live in the USA. They require that you be a native English speaker as well. That is because the transcription I do, the people in the recordings use a lot of slang terms, street talk and colloquialisms that a person in India wouldn't recognize. This is non-medical transcription however.
You certainly don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but it is, indeed, true that very large numbers of American medical records are being transcribed in India, the Philippines, the Caribbean, even Pakistan.
If you want additional perspective on the medical transcription industry from the point of view of the transcriptionist, you can read the comments on MTStars and ask questions about training and job prospects. Maybe you will find someone there will tell you what you want to hear.
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