SeekingSimplicity Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Has anyone here taken online classes for Medical Transcription? Someone sent me some info on it and she says she's making $15 an hour doing this (but that's after doing it for a while). Sometimes work is good, sometimes a little slow, but it does give her the extra money she needs. But she also said with the economy down, it's a little slow right now and some people are having a hard time finding work but it is projected to come up in the near future. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, do think it's a good thing to go into? We desperately need some extra income, so I really have to do something-- I'm hoping this might be the break I've been waiting for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have one of those at home "degrees" for it and it's done nothing but sit on my shelf. I've never been able to get work with it. I don't mean to be a downer, but just wanted to share my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillieBoy Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Yes, many years ago I did medical transcription amongst other things in the medical field. Times have changed significantly since I did it though. I was a medical assistant for a private practitioner and I would take his tape recorder home every night, transcribe, print it out on sticker paper, cut and paste them in the charts the next day. Now days most medical doctors can not afford insurance so they are forced into a group practice of some kind or worse are blanketed under a huge conglomeration. A lot of these practices have in house dictation and transcription departments. I think only a few practices use outside transcription services (the ones those ads talk about), it is less common because of HCFA and all of the compliances. Be careful, there are a lot of companies out there advertising for you to pay to take transcription courses. You can pretty much do it on your own and take an exam. If you have a Latin background you are already one step ahead. Also note when I was transcribing in the 80's I was making $18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I do business transcription but I do have a friend that completed an online medical transcriptionist course this spring. She is just starting to look for jobs now so I don't know how the outlook is, but she seems to think she will do much better than $15/hour. I make about $20/hour, but I get paid by the minute and she said medical transcribing is set up differently. Anyway, here is the company she went with: http://www.at-homeprofessions.com. I do know if you are unable to get local jobs, there are online jobs available for medical transcribers. You just have to be careful to research and make sure they're legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have one of those at home "degrees" for it and it's done nothing but sit on my shelf. I've never been able to get work with it. I don't mean to be a downer, but just wanted to share my experience. That is what I want to hear, your experience, even if it was bad. I appreciate the honesty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 I do business transcription but I do have a friend that completed an online medical transcriptionist course this spring. She is just starting to look for jobs now so I don't know how the outlook is, but she seems to think she will do much better than $15/hour. I make about $20/hour, but I get paid by the minute and she said medical transcribing is set up differently. Anyway, here is the company she went with: www.at-homeprofessions.com. I do know if you are unable to get local jobs, there are online jobs available for medical transcribers. You just have to be careful to research and make sure they're legit. I don't have any training in medical transcription. I was talking to a friend over the weekend and telling her that DH was looking for a higher paying job, but now because he has to have surgery and will have to be out of work for a while (and really he needs to apply for disability) that I should start looking for work so he can get this done. But I can't go anywhere and make what he makes starting out, plus I never finished college and have no degree or training in anything. Anyhow, she sent me this info on the school she went thru, it has financial assistance, and she has been able to support herself since going thru the training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Gosh, I did this as a second job (moonlighting) back in the 1980s. I worked for a psychiatric hospital. They were always looking for transcriptionists, so I could work as many or as few hours as I wanted to in the evenings or on weekends. I didn't have formal medical transcription training, but I had done large amounts (like, many hours per week) of transcription work for years, I could type well over 140 words per minute accurately, I'd taken Latin, and I was familiar with medical terms. I was paid according to how much work I produced, and I made about $13 an hour. That would come out to much more nowadays, probably. If I needed to work now I'd do medical transcription work again in a heartbeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 She did say the $ was based on how much work you produce. Right now $15 is about where she's at, that's between kids, house, and school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have no experience with the online transcription courses but I am a medical transcriptionist. I am employed by a local hospital but I work at home. I do make about $15.00/hour base pay plus incentive for everything I type over my required amount working nights but I also have full benefits including medical etc available to me. I do get paid vacations, sick leave etc as well. I did work for a while as a self-employed transcriptionist through a local company. I made more money but to be honest, it was not good. Work fluctuated more and I had no hourly rate security. Sometimes the hospital does run out of work but I get paid regardless. This was not the case when I was self-employed. Many hospitals and doctors offices around here have moved to companies that charge next to nothing for the transcription. The hospital I work for is one of the few remaining with in house transcription for medical imaging, where I work, and even they have outsourced the medical records transcription to a cheaper company. There are companies however that do hire completely over the internet but they usually want some experience. I would do some research about what jobs would be available to you in your area or on the internet before shelling out the money for classes that may do me no good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 She did say the $ was based on how much work you produce. Right now $15 is about where she's at, that's between kids, house, and school. Yup, that's about what I make, too, on the low end of the pay scale. I've been at it for a little more than a year and a half and still love it. I took an online course that took me about five months to complete, working my rear end off. PM me if you're curious about more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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