Medical Transcriptionist job description template

4 Steps to Creating a Medical Transcriptionist Job Description 

There are many medical transcriptionists out there, so you must understand what you need before hiring. Below are some factors to consider to help you choose the right fit for your company:

1. What Type of Medical Transcriptionist Do You Need?

While there are several types of transcriptionists, medical transcriptionists handle the transcribing of physicians’ audio and written notes into electronic text. Within the field of medical transcription, individuals may specialize in transcriptions for hospitals, private practice offices and medical research organizations.

For hospital transcriptionists, knowledge and comfort level working with the tools described in the above section will likely cover multiple physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses and other personnel. Transcription work for these individuals will be included in reports and other documentation shared with hospital administration.

Private practice transcriptionists will work in smaller offices with a smaller staff. Transcription work may be done not only for the physicians and their assistants, but for nurses and office manager.

Medical transcriptionists for research facilities will include similar work as described in the previous two examples, but will not include patient notes or correspondence. The transcription work will focus on reports associated with medical trials and pharmaceuticals.

Whichever type of medical transcriptionist you need, be sure to describe the type of work to be done as well as the environment.

2. Employees vs. Freelancers vs. Temp Agencies

Medical transcriptionists can be hired as full-time employees, freelancers, or representatives of temporary agencies. Employees and temp agency reps will normally work as employees of the originating company or the agency and complete a full day’s work for extended periods. Freelancers, on the other hand, will likely take on specific projects or a series of projects, at either an hourly rate or a fixed fee. 

3. Experience

Experience is a valuable resource for assessing potential medical transcriptionist hires. An entry-level transcriptionist is able to transcribe voice recordings and physician notes to text and ensure those transcribed reports, documents, and electronic files are archived appropriately. More-advanced or certified medical transcriptionists (CMTs) offer more experience, working with several physicians across multiple specialties. With more experience, medical transcriptionists are more familiar with other challenges and potential obstacles that may arise in medical facilities, doctors’ offices, or hospitals.

4. Industry

Because medical transcriptionists are focused on the medical field, the variance comes from which type of medical area the transcription work will be performed. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity provides a standard for healthcare documentation specialists with medical word processing. Through AHDI, medical transcriptionists have gained recognition as professionals and experts in the field of medical language.

Transcriptionists can specialize in different environments, such as a physician’s office or clinic, a medical research facility, or a hospital. Each field will require specialized capabilities. A physician’s office will require handling transcriptions for other office personnel, including nurses and office managers as it relates to patient visits, pharmaceutical orders and the lik. For hospitals and clinics, transcriptionists will usually focus on a larger group of physicians and nurses, dealing with everything from transcribing notes from patient meetings to dictated memos to hospital administration.

Next Steps

So you’re now ready to begin looking for a medical transcriptionist. Great medical transcriptionists can be found on Upwork. Their qualifications are listed along with their experience, giving you all the information you need to find the right fit for you.