Medical transcription companies offer transcription services to doctors, hospitals, and clinics. Medical transcription itself is the act of transferring oral dictation from physicians into written reports. Though many people offer medical transcription services on their own as a home-based business, there are benefits to both working for and using the services of a medical transcription company.
Medical transcription companies will generally offer some sort of guaranteed turnaround time. This might be determined by the hospital or physician, or it might be a standard set by the company itself, such as 12 hours or 24 hours. A medical transcription company will also be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) certified, which some freelancers may not be. This helps to ensure confidentiality and discretion.
In general, medical transcription companies will attempt to have the same transcriptionist work with the same set of doctors, so the two can develop a familiarity and consistency. However, the benefit to using a company with a pool of available transcriptionists means that there will always be someone there who can complete unexpected work, or fill in while the usual transcriptionist is on vacation. Another benefit to hiring a medical transcription company is that the company will be there to stand behind the work; there is no doubt that the employees have been thoroughly trained and are certified transcriptionists. Though some medical transcription companies do outsource their work to freelancers, this information will generally be provided on the company's web site.
In addition to basic medical transcription, many medical transcription companies offer proofreading and "editing" services. Though the actual content of the transcript is, of course, not edited, the company may employ a group of people to double-check the reports for errors. This ensures accurate and error-free transcripts that can still be completed in a relatively brief time period.
Many people get into the field of medical transcription hoping to work from home, and this is certainly possible. However, the benefits to working as an employee of a medical transcription company are numerous. The hours and schedule will be relatively fixed, the clients are guaranteed, and many companies offer benefits, such as health insurance and vacation time. Many will also provide extra training in the medical terminology. It is also possible that, once you have worked for a particular company for a period of time, they may allow you to continue your work from home, as long as it remains up to par.
