I'm looking online and want to make sure I don't get taken by a scam. Has any of you had any experience with this?

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my sister in law did the online course about 4 yrs ago and still hasnt gotten a job doing it from home. she has gotten a few and I mean a few ( 4-6) jobs for a one time thing filling in at a few dr. offices while someone was out sick but that was through some temp service. She said most of the local places dont want to honor the online courses. They would rather have someone who grad. from the local college with the same degree.

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I started to get involved in it, then stopped.

I had gotten advice from some folks around here (I mean, where I live), that MedTrans is NOT the thing to be in. Voice recognition software is getting better and better - got that straight from my BIL who's an orthopedic surgeon. There's new software out that allows the Dr's. to enter information themselves and I've been told by some folks at the hopspital I work at that the younger doctors like that better.

I even spoke to a course counselor at the school I was enrolled in and she didn't dispute any of it. I was on the fence whether I wanted to continue at one point and when I mentioned medical transcriptionists being sort of "glorified proofreaders", she came back with "That's why many transcriptionists are cross-trained in Medical Coding". Gee, you couldn't have told me that BEFORE I spent my 3,000? Coming from supposedly one of THE premiere schools in MedTrans, I was just a bit ticked.

If you're going to do it, go in with eyes wide open. Transcription is turning more and more into pretty much proof-reading - the software does the work, the "transcriptionist" makes sure that it's correct. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but that's not something I want to do. Heck, maybe even if I knew that AHEAD of time, I would have still gone ahead with it anyways. I don't think I was as upset to what the job is becoming, but the fact that I was reassured via online classrooms by the instructors that MedTrans is alive and kicking. Not sure when the last time it was they actually spoke to any doctors or medical personnel. It had come up at least a few times in online class about actually getting work and we were reassured completely that almost all their students find employment. The "cross-training" reality of the situation only seems to be mentioned when you express great uncertainty and have a foot out the door. (But by then, you're all paid up.)

My BIL has said that Coding is a much better field to go into, he feels that's a field that's not going to go anywhere for a very long time.

HTH!

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I think the Tablet PC is going to take off in the health care market. They're lightweight and portable and replace pen, paper, and clipboard used by doctors and nurses. Perhaps they will reduce the need for medical transcription.

Dell plays small ball with tablet PC
Tablet PC Gains Widespread Support From Healthcare Industry: Designed to Improve Communications and Productivity for All Business Users, Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Is Striking a Chord With Physicians and Health Professionals

(sorry if this is off-topic, but i thought it was relevant)

UM and St Joseph's Heart Hospitals already use the tablet pc's here.

It's great for the patients!!

Your info is put into the computer when you walk into the door of the ER and then it is retrieved from anywhere while you are there!

I am glad I read this thread, as this was something I was considering taking too...now I will rethink this and just go finish my nursing degree (which I kind of didn't want to do--) ugh.

thanks for asking that question OP, and thank you for so many answers...you guys just made my choices a little narrower. LOL...grrr.

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SPJRNTGADL!

If you want to do it, go for it! Just make sure there are appropriate jobs out there in your area! I would only do it if I was able to stay at home and transcribe . . . No work-at-home opportunities in my area

Coming from someone who took Health Info Management (medical records) back in '96 to '98, I hated every minute of it. Medical transcription was only part of the program and I absolutely hated every single minute of it. At the time, I was also in classes that taught you how to code and bill insurance companies and that (at the time) was where the money was at.

After I saw so many people that I worked around and interned around so unhappy with their jobs, I quickly decided to stick around long enough to finish the degree and never looked back at doing this job full time.

I am a medical transcriptionist. Have been for more than 15 yrs.

I can tell you a little and then I will give u a link to a great place to help you especially regarding being scammed, because there are tons out there.

1. MOST work is now being sent to India, as the work can be done cheaper. But on the flip side, their work requires alot of editing, i think due mostly to the language differences.

2. As another poster said, nearly everything is going to Voice Recognition. It has been used for years by blind physicians, dictators, etc and is making a huge impact on the medical field now. As a matter of a fact, I recently lost an account to Voice Recognition. All the dictator has to do is speak into the dictaphone and it is programmed to print out the information, thus cutting out the need for a transcriptionist.

3. There is probably more that I could add, but check out this website. There's alot of good information, especially the forums. It is very helpful regarding learning which scams as well as jobs are out and about lurking.... The site is Medical Transcription : 7,000 Medical Transcriptionists Online

Hope this helps.
Good Luck!

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