The profession of Medical transcription these days is regarded as among the extensively subcontracted occupation. Medical transcription is given a tremendous thrust for the reason that it is an attempt on behalf of medical community to minimize the burden of official administration in generating documented medical records so that the doctors can concentrate on treating the patients.
The execution of this type of job can also be outsourced to medical professionals who are interested in working from home. The work of medical transcription from home calls for considerable amount of investment and time period to be utilized for choosing and providing education to the approaching professionals. The capital cost also includes installation, developmental and maintenance costs. In regular circumstances, the functional costs are sometimes really high. To keep the cost as low as possible, many of the health care companies are outsourcing the contracts of medical transcription to personnel who are eager to take up the home job and have basic knowledge required for it. Needless to say, many of them do it at a lower rate since they are saving on transportation costs and don't have to go through the hassles others go through.
The companies who prefer outsourcing the task of medical transcription are basically multi-national in character and make available their services in transcription in the following segments of the health care sector:
All-purpose Surgery. Radiology. Internal and physical medicine. Emergency room. Cardiology, etc.
Such companies always provide a specialized medical transcription course to the potential employee. Generally, the established companies prefer to employ individuals with experience of at least two years. A bright but inexperienced candidate can also give it a try. For the entry level candidates, an examination is conducted to gauge their aptitude in this field. However, the basic qualification considered desirable is graduation degree, good command over English, needs to be a good listener and good typing speed.
The examination for medical transcriptionist is divided into two parts, such as, editing, comprehension test. The successful applicants are appointed following the expert training imparted within the first week. People who work from home are paid keeping in view the level of accuracy and speed. Payment is made according to per line submitted and the rate varies according to the policies of a company and the government. You can also become an editor in medical transcriptionist once you have attained the precision level of around 98 to 99 %. But remember, the overheads costs are deducted in the form of tax from the parent organization or from the basic salary of the employee.
Four important pharmacology references in the medical tanscriptionist's library are:
1. Physician's Desk Reference (PDR)
2. American Drug Index (ADI)
3. Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book
4. Understanding Pharmacology
It is very important that a medical transcriptionist be familiar with drugs, their indications and dosages as well as how to research new or unusual drug names in drug reference books. Elderly people especially sometimes take multiple, as many as ten or more medications per day. A wise medical transcriptionist will be sure to stay up-to-date. Familiarity with drugs and drug reference books will make transcription assignments much easier and will increase the rate of productivity, which is important if the medical transcription is being paid by line of transcription.
The pharmaceutical companies use three different names to describe a drug, they are:
? The chemical name (which is a complicated formula describing the drug's molecular structure).
? The generic name (a shorter name assigned to the drug chemical)
? The trade or brand name (the copyrighted name selected by the pharmaceutical company)
The trade or brand name is easy to pronounce, and may indicate what the drug is used for or how often it is taken, and is selected for its appeal to prescribing physicians. A generic drug may have several trade names copyrighted by different manufacturers.
Rules to remember when transcribing drug names include:
? Generic drugs are always written in lowercase letters. Trade name drugs always start with a capital letter. Some trade name drugs will also have internal capitalization (such as pHisoHex). It is also important to note that the PDR contains only prescription drugs. There is a separate publication for nonprescription drugs. In addition, only drugs that the manufacturer pays to have listed in the PDR are included.
? Be alert to drug names that sound alike but their uses are completely different, such as Xanax used to treat anxiety and Zantac used to treat stomach ulcers.
? Words such as tablet, capsule, solution, elixir and cream are not part of the trade name of a drug and should not be capitalized for use
The standard drug reference is the Physicians? Desk Reference (published annually) and well known as the PDR. It contains various sections of drugs and is found in most physicians? offices. Sections of the PDR of most interest to the medical transcriptionist are:
?Yellow pages (list generic names of drugs)
?Pink pages (list brand names of drugs)
?Blue pages (list therapeutic category
?White pages (give a complete description of the listed drugs including indications and dosages)
The American Drug Index (ADI) is another standard drug reference book. This is a comprehensive reference that lists both generic and trade name drugs and prescription and nonprescription drugs in alphabetical order throughout the reference book. It lists every drug name in all capital letters. Generic drugs are preceded by a small black dot to denote their difference from trade and brand name drugs. Trade name drugs list the name of the manufacturer to alert the medical transcriptionist that the drug is to be capitalized.
The Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book is a new drug reference book to be updated annually first published n 1992. It is an A to Z listing of medications with generic drugs in lowercase letters and trade names capitalized as the medical transcriptionist must type them. Each entry states briefly what the drug is for and the usual methods of administration. It has an appendix list of Sound Alikes, 879 pairs of drugs that sound enough alike to be confusing which serves as a special help to the medical transcriptionist.
Understanding Pharmacology is an easy-to-read textbook used in many pharmacology classes. Medical transcriptionists seeking a greater understanding of drugs and their uses may find it especially useful to include in their library as well.
This article is FREE to publish with the resource box.
Both Allied & Connie Limon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Allied has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Fitness. The execution of this type of job can also be outsourced to medical professionals who are interested in working from home. The work of medical transcription from home calls for considerable amount of investment and time period to be utilized for choosing. Allied's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.