Become a Medical Transcriptionist and Work at Home

There will always be the need for medical transcriptionists. As of this writing, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a growth in this field of up to 11%, over the next ten years, which is considered to be as fast as average. This includes general and specialized transcription opportunities.

More and more transcriptionists are opting to work at home, as opposed to traditional settings such as doctor's offices, transcription service offices or hospitals. Many are doing so to take advantage of the many excellent tax credits available to home workers.

Job requirements and educational training typically varies from employer to employer. Some employers prefer to hire medical transcriptionists who have prior in-house experience, while others are willing to hire those new to the field.

There are numerous distance-learning programs, vocational schools and community colleges that offer this training. Coursework generally includes English grammar, medical technology, anatomy, pharmacology and legal issues in regard to the documentation of health-care records.

Although formal accreditation is not a requirement, there are voluntary accreditation programs available through organizations such as the American Health Information Management Association and the Approval Committee for Certificate Programs.

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity recognizes two voluntary designations of medical transcriptionists. This includes a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) and a Registered Medical Transcription (RMT).

RMT designation is granted to recent graduates and those who have less than two years of acute care experience. CMT designation is granted to those with at least two years of acute care experience who possess the ability to achieve a passing score on the certification test.

In addition to numerous tax credits, there are other benefits to becoming a medical transcriptionist and working at home. First and foremost, for many of these individials, is the flexibility of the job. They especially appreciate the fact that they can work any time during the day and (depending on the client) as much or as little as they like.

Working at home typically reduces other employment-related expenses such as gas and auto maintenance, business wardrobe and the cost of going out to lunch on a daily basis. It also saves on child care allows parents to spend more quality with their children.

This is perfect choice for anyone interested in the medical field that prefers to forgo the expense of a nursing degree or something similar. Due to the variety of transcription specialties, such as orthopedics, emergency medicine, radiology or pathology, there are many interesting options to choose from.