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Medical Transcription (an overview) |
Medical Transcription in simple terms could be explained as the entry of case histories, diagnosis, prescriptions etc. given by the physicians/surgeons after evaluating the condition of the patients. However, unlike the simple entry of text into the computer, here the doctors dictate the analysis of the patient, which should be transcribed by a Medical Transcriptionist. In the earlier days this dictation used to be handled by a secretary and then reports used to be generated based on the doctors analysis. But nowadays because of the stringent health care laws and a strong insurance sector, it has become mandatory to have a detailed case history of the patient including the diagnosis, prescriptions and any other postoperative and preoperative reports. Since the wage levels in developed countries are very high the amount spent in generating one case history goes to hundreds of dollars, which is not economically viable for large hospitals that require thousands of reports everyday.
The alternative solution for these hospitals
is to offload the documentation part to some private
agencies or companies who can handle it on a fixed amount
for every line of transcription. This business was slowly
transferred to the third world countries in the Asian
Continent mainly because of good knowledge of English and
computer awareness.
The operation will be managed and assisted by a
specialist team of Data Entry level operators called Medical
Transcriptionists, with sound knowledge of
spoken English and knowledge of medical terms. A Medical
Transcriptionist interprets and transcribes dictation by
physicians and other health care professionals regarding
patient assessment, work up, therapeutic procedures,
clinical course, diagnosis, prognosis etc., editing
dictated material for grammar and clarity, as necessary
and appropriate. Added to this, he/she should have good
knowledge of data entry through Computers using any word
processor like MS Word.
A Manager qualified in Information Technology and having
sound knowledge of Medical terminology and the technical
terms associated with it will be heading the operation.