Before discussing how to become a medical transcriptionist in India, let us first understand what exactly medical transcription and what competencies one should possess to become a successful medical transcriptionist.
Medical transcription is a process that documents physician-patient encounters in an easy-to-understand digital format. A patient takes an appointment to visit a physician for treatment of his/her medical condition/ailment. Once the patient is examined and an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan has arrived, the physician documents the entire encounter by dictating the same through microphone/mobile/telephone, etc., and saves the same in a voice format. This voice file is then processed through an automated speech recognition engine and converted to a text document which will have multiple deficiencies as the same is processed through software and will need the intervention of a skilled and well-trained human who can correct the deficiencies and make it an error-free document. Here comes the role of healthcare documentation specialist/medical transcriptionist who reviews the voice file and converts the same into a legit, error-free document with his/her acquired skill which can then be reviewed by the physician and the same can be used for future treatment and claims. Medical transcription falls under the healthcare clinical documentation category, basically helping hospitals to maintain patient records and plays a key role in decision making and providing superior treatment to the patient. Also, it helps in insurance processing as well as to build patient medical history.
Medical transcription is one of the most exciting and long-term career options that one can choose from in the healthcare support domain. Medical transcription is available as a career option for over three decades now in India and has helped thousands of individuals build a successful and fruitful career. It started in the early 1990s and is one of the oldest professions in the modern era of the internet. This profession is still relevant and employs thousands of individuals who continue to excel in the medical transcription business.
Competencies Required To Be A Medical Transcriptionist:
- An aspirant should be proficient in both written as well as verbal English skills.
- An aspirant should have the ability to understand different English accents.
- An aspirant should have a keen eye for detail in whatever he/she does.
- An aspirant should be patient enough to listen to and comprehend voice files and convert them to error-free documents for about 8 hours in a day.
- Aspirants should have good knowledge of the basics of computers.
- An aspirant should be able to upgrade skills by reading articles and viewing videos related to human anatomy.
- An aspirant should have a passion to learn new terminologies.
- An aspirant should be self-motivated and a goal-oriented person.
- An aspirant should possess critical thinking, logical, and reasoning skills.
How To Become Medical Transcriptionist In India:
Anyone interested to take up medical transcription as a career should preferably be a graduate with good command of written English. Education in life sciences will be an added advantage.
When an aspirant approaches any medical transcription organization/training institute, a basic screening test will be conducted to check competency. Once the candidate is selected after screening, comprehensive training is initiated which includes basics of computers, understanding human anatomy, Americanism, basics of English language and grammar, medical terminology along with working on practice files in a simulated environment for about 3 to 6 months. Upon completion of training, the candidate is put through an assessment to determine competency after training. Post clearing the training, a candidate will be eligible to work in a live environment under the supervision of a mentor until the candidate acquires the required competency to deliver work directly to the physician/hospital. When the candidate gets to a level of being independent and proficient in his/her work, there is a lot of growth opportunity. The candidate then starts off in the role of a healthcare documentation associate. This is one profession where one has the opportunity to decide their paycheck and work in accordance. There are numerous opportunities for growth within AQuity for the right person.
If you have the above competencies and are interested in building a fruitful career in the healthcare domain, come, join us for an exciting career and long-term growth in the medical transcription field.