Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings from medical care providers and adapt them into written form. Their transcriptions may include office visit notes, medical test results, referral letters and other documentation for accurate medical records. They must be familiar with medical terminology and have a keen ear to understand a variety of accents and rates of speech.
When you write your medical transcriptionist job description, you should detail the skills and qualifications this position encompasses to inform potential candidates of what to expect. You may want to highlight the importance of communication, grammar and a sharp attention to detail needed to perform this job effectively.
Medical transcriptionists may also interact with health care providers to review and correct any documents as needed. You can follow the medical transcriptionist job description below to write a job post that can bring top candidates to your attention.
Medical Transcriptionist Job Summary
We are looking for a candidate with a good ear and fast fingers to fill our opening as a medical transcriptionist in the medical records department. Every day brings a different set of challenges in this quick-paced behind-the-scenes area of health care, and the right person should be able to work quickly and accurately in this supporting role by maintaining the highest quality medical records for the care and privacy of the public we serve. You’ll have the opportunity to train with the latest technology and strengthen your skills and understanding of medical vocabulary while providing a valuable service that helps both our medical staff and our patients. If you like to work independently and have a commitment to excellence, you may be the person we are looking for.
Job Responsibilities
- Transcribe medical reports, summaries, office visit notes and other medical documents from recorded messages from health care providers
- Provide online copies of transcribed document to physicians or other providers for review and signature, making corrections or changes as noted
- Be familiar with proper grammar, spelling and sentence structure as well as medical jargon and abbreviations for accuracy
- Prepare correspondence, summaries, research and other administrative reports not directly related to patient care in order to assist medical team
- Work with transcription equipment that can include speech recognition equipment, word processing and computer software, medical references and other technologies
- Maintain strict adherence to patient confidentiality according to provider standards and government regulations
- Review transcription documents for quality assurance and precision to spot and correct any errors that could impact patient care and medical liability
- Create templates and enter data into electronic health record (EHR) systems for updated record keeping and archives
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- High school diploma or GED
- Proficiency with EHR, Microsoft Office and speech recognition software
- Ability to type 90 WPM
Preferred:
- Certification in medical transcription (CMT)
- Previous experience in hospital or other health care setting
Medical Transcriptionist Job Responsibilities
Your medical transcriptionist job description can save you time, providing you put all the pieces together in a clear and informative way. For example, the job responsibilities section should include all the major duties you expect a new employee to perform. When jobseekers read this description, they can decide whether to apply based on their ability to perform these tasks.
The medical transcriptionist job responsibilities section should be the longest part of your job posting, but make sure it is not too long. 6-8 bullet points is ideal. This number is suitable for making a lot of information available without overwhelming the reader. As mentioned already, these bullet points should start with an action verb. This makes it easier for a jobseeker to visualize the activity. To ensure accuracy, ask the supervisor for this opening what the most common and most important activities are.
You will find some conventional medical transcriptionist duties below. Use or modify them for your medical transcriptionist job description if they fit your opening.
- Maintain written records of office visits as dictated by physician
- Process medical billing information in compliance with current ICD standards
- Stay up-to-date on changing medical practices regarding cyber security and billing codes
- Transfer physical documents to new digital systems
Medical Transcriptionist Job Specifications
The short length of the medical transcriptionist job specifications area of your job description can be deceptive; it does not mean this part is unimportant. Rather, the skills and qualifications you list here can save you a lot of time. Clearly outlining the minimum specifications for this job means you will not have an inbox flooded with unqualified applicants.
Part of a good medical transcriptionist job description is a skills and qualifications section that is easy to read. To keep this short, consider only the minimum specifications for the job. You can find out from a hiring manager or committee what they expect and work from there. When this section is unavoidably long, try splitting the items into “required” and “preferred.” This lets candidates scan the section easily and move to a different posting if they can’t meet the required minimum.
Use the list below and any other information you have about the job opening to write a clear skills and qualifications section for your medical transcriptionist job description. These are some common specifications for jobs of this type.
- Familiar with MedQuist and DocQment
- Able to type 80 WPM or better
- Capable time manager
- Punctual and reliable
- Excellent oral and written comprehension skills