Finding Affordable Transcription for Research Interviews

If you?ve conducted some research including one-to-one interviews, and then realised how much work is involved in transcribing them, you?ll probably be looking for an affordable transcription service. There are many transcription services available but sometimes an affordable transcription service can seem hard to find. Transcription is not cheap, because it is a lot more involved than copy typing, but that doesn?t mean you can?t find affordable transcription, and what?s more, by providing good quality recordings you can make the transcription more affordable, as it will take less time to complete.

You could do the transcription yourself, but if you are not a fast touch-typist and do not have specialist transcription equipment then it will take you a very long time. I have had clients come to me saying they started the work themselves and it was taking them 20 hours to produce a transcript of a 1-hour recording. That?s why they ended up using a transcription service!

The most important thing to remember is that it?s just not possible to type as fast as you speak. Even an experienced transcriptionist will be able to average four times as long for a good, clear one-to-one interview ? so an hour of recording will take an average of four hours to transcribe. ( Industry standards obtained from the Industry Production Standards Guide (I998), published by OBC, Columbus, OH, USA) Transcriptionists also have to make sense of what?s being said, punctuate the speech correctly and use the right homophones (words like there/their/they?re that sound the same but are spelt differently.)

So how can you make sure that your transcript is clear, in order to get an affordable transcription price? Basically, the easier you make the transcription for the transcriptionist, the more likely they are to be able to give you an affordable transcription quote.

First of all, use the best transcription equipment you can afford, and make sure it?s fit for purpose. This means that for interviews you should have a recorded with an external microphone rather than one built into the recorder, which is only designed to pick up one voice dictating. For focus groups you should have several microphones so that all participants are close to a mike, and for conferences the speakers should have good microphones and there should also be people in the audience with ?roving? microphones to take around to any audience members wanting to ask a question.

More and more transcriptionists are only taking on digital work now, rather than tapes, so to give yourself the broadest base to chose from you might want to consider using a digital recording method. These are also usually better quality.

Next, you should prepare well before each interview. Make sure that, if at all possible you have arranged a quiet meeting room, as background noise will dramatically increase the time taken to transcribe the recording, as the transcriptionist may have to listen to sections several times in order to capture the interview speech. It is helpful to spell out your interviewee?s name at the beginning of the tape, before starting the interview, and speak out any information you would like on the transcript header e.g. the date, the job title of your interviewee etc.

During the interview, unless you need to interrupt in order to take back control of the interview, try not to speak over your interviewee. Often in a normal conversation we say ?yeah, yeah, yeah? or ?right? or ?OK? more to indicate we?re listening than for any other reason. Every time you say that you are likely to be obscuring a much more important word or group of words spoken by your interviewee.

After the interview, it is enormously helpful if you can include a list of key words for the transcriptionist. Although we?re happy to go on a ?Google hunt?, searching the internet to find out how to spell technical terms, names of drugs, names of organisations etc., if you can provide this info in advance it certainly saves time, and saving time saves you money, again reaching toward that goal of an affordable transcription price. Technical work will always be more expensive than non-technical, but providing a ?crib sheet? of key words should reduce the cost.

Most transcriptionists work in a standard format, whether that be tabular, tabbed, interviews shown as initials or full names etc. Again most are happy to work to your specifications, but the standard format might well be cheaper, so think carefully about whether you need something different or not. Find out what the standard format is in advance if it concerns you, and you may be able to adapt it to your needs. If, for instance, it?s essential that you have speakers in different fonts or different colours, this will add to the price. It might be more cost-effective for you to put this in when the basic transcript is returned to you!

Finally, give some serious thought to whether or not you need a verbatim transcription. Verbatim transcription includes every repeated word, every ?um? and ?erm?, all those ?filler? phrases like ?you know? and ?know what I mean? that may be repeated a hundred times in one interview, and can also include pauses, coughs, throat clearing etc. if required. Needless to say if this takes longer. If the transcriptionist can filter out all this stuff the transcript is quicker. In my company the cheapest level is what we call ?intelligent verbatim? which cuts out all these fillers but leaves the rest exactly as it?s spoken. Different transcriptionists work this differently though, so always check when you?re phoning for your quote. Here are some brief examples. Somewhat more expensive is edited, which corrects the grammar and any mispronounced words as well as knocking out all the fillers.

Verbatim: Erm ? well, I dunno really, know what I mean? I mean, you know, when I asked them what Mary?s, er, um, condish, condit, condition was, they said like erm ?I?m afraid we can?t, erm, tell you that, Mrs. Smith, ?cause you ain?t a relative.?

Intelligent Verbatim: Well, I dunno really. I mean when I asked them what Mary?s condition was they said ?I?m afraid we can?t tell you that, Mrs Smith, ?cause you ain?t a relative.?

Edited: Well I don?t know really. I mean when I asked them what Mary?s condition was they said ?I?m afraid we can?t tell you that, Mrs Smith, because you are not a relative.?

You can see that a whole extra line of typing is required for the verbatim work in just those few short sentences.

There are occasions when verbatim is required ? depending on your topic it might be required for legal reasons, or you might be studying the language. But if you really don?t need it, don?t end up paying for it!

There are many excellent reasons for interviewing groups of people, but don?t do this in order to try to reduce the transcription cost! It takes much longer to transcribe a group of more than two or three people (including the moderator/interviewer) because of the time taken to distinguish the different voices and the fact that people will inevitably talk over each other, especially when they get excited, enthusiastic, impassioned or angry.

And finally, a note of caution: remember that the cheapest transcription quote might not be the most affordable one in the end. There is an oft-quoted phrase: if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Will it really be cost-effective to send your hard-won interviews to the cheapest service if what comes back is gobbledygook and you have to go through the whole thing correcting every other word? How much time will you then waste that could have been spent more productively on your analysis?

Anne Hickley has many years experience in a wide variety of administrative posts. Roles have included provision of secretarial services, PA work, project management and administration, academic and business report writing and editing, and recruitment. She has worked for a range of companies and institutions from SMEs to multinational businesses. Anne has a degree and a doctorate, and also holds the Diploma in Recruitment Practice, the membership qualification for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

She runs her own small business, Penguin Office Services (http://www.penguinofficeservices.co.uk) and has a website specifically dedicated to transcription at http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk These provide a wide variety of administrative services to clients around the world, from corporates to individuals.

This article is copyright, Anne Hickley, 2007.

Finding Affordable Transcription for Interviews, Focus Groups, Conferences and More

You may have been conducting research interviews, focus groups, market research, but whatever your reason for recording conversations you?ll be looking for an affordable transcription service. There are many transcription services available but sometimes an affordable transcription service can seem hard to find. Transcription is not cheap, because it is a lot more involved than copy typing, but that doesn?t mean you can?t find an affordable transcription service, and by providing good quality recordings you can make the transcription more affordable, as it will take less time to complete.

You may have planned to do the transcription yourself, but if you are not a fast touch-typist and do not have specialist transcription equipment then you have probably now realised that it?s going to take you a very long time. I have had clients come to me saying it was taking them 20 hours to produce a transcript of a 1-hour recording. That?s why they ended up using a transcription service!

The most important thing to remember is that it?s just not possible to type as fast as you speak. Even an experienced transcriptionist will be able to average four times as long for a good, clear one-to-one interview ? so an hour of recording will take an average of four hours to transcribe. A focus group may take six hours or more per hour of recording. (Industry standards obtained from the Industry Production Standards Guide (I998), published by OBC, Columbus, OH, USA) Transcriptionists also have to make sense of what?s being said, punctuate the speech correctly and use the right homophones (words like there/their/they?re that sound the same but are spelt differently.)

So how can you make sure that your transcript is clear, in order to get an affordable transcription price? Basically, the easier you make the transcription for the transcriptionist, the more likely they are to be able to give you an affordable transcription quote.

First of all, use the best recording equipment you can afford, and make sure it?s fit for purpose. This means that for interviews you should record with an external microphone rather than one built into the recorder, which is only designed to pick up one voice dictating. For focus groups you should have several microphones so that all participants are close to a mike.

If you?re conducting interviews then, if at all possible, conduct them in a quiet room, as background noise will dramatically increase the time taken to transcribe the recording, as the transcriptionist may have to listen to sections several times in order to capture the interview speech. It is helpful to spell out your interviewee?s name at the beginning of the tape, before starting the interview, and speak out any information you would like on the transcript header e.g. the date, the job title of your interviewee etc. You may also want to conduct a ?debrief? session at the end of the recording, when you are alone, in order to quickly record your impressions of the interview. For research interviews this is often part of the methodology.

Focus group transcription will cost more than a one-to-one interview transcript, but you can still get an affordable transcription service if you work to make your recording as clear as possible. Again make sure the recording is conducted in a private quiet room. Air conditioning can affect a recording, but so can opening a window, so if it?s a hot day it?s worth making a couple of test recordings before you start to see if there are problems! It?s really important to firmly chair a focus group too. Remind all the participants that all their views are valid, there are no rights and wrongs and, while you?re interested to see if they agree or disagree with each other, they should try not to talk (or shout!) over each other to make their point. Saying this at the beginning is important but it?s even more important, if you want affordable transcription, to remind participants each time things start getting a bit ?out of hand? that they need to speak separately for the sake of the recording. Finding the balance here between letting the talk flow and making sure you get a good recording is quite an art!

Conference recording is best left to the professionals if possible! Often these days a venue will provide recording facilities of good quality, included in the price. A microphone needs to be set up for the speaker and there should also be people in the audience with ?roving? microphones to take around to any audience members wanting to ask a question.

Digital recording systems provide the best quality and many transcriptionists only work with digital now, so if you want to give yourself the widest field then it?s certainly worth considering digital.

Any information you can provide to the transcriptionist about your recording will help, and may help toward an affordable transcription service. For example a list of key words will reduce the time spent ?Googleing?, searching the internet to find out how to spell technical terms, names of organisations etc. If you can provide this info it certainly saves time, and saving time saves you money, again reaching toward that goal of an affordable transcription service. Technical work will always be more expensive than non-technical, but providing a ?crib sheet? of key words should reduce the cost.

Most transcriptionists work in a standard format, whether that be tabular, tabbed, interviews shown as initials or full names etc. Again most are happy to work to your specifications, but the standard format might well be cheaper, so think carefully about whether you need something different or not. Find out what the standard format is in advance if it concerns you, and you may be able to adapt it to your needs. If, for instance, it?s essential that you have speakers in different fonts or different colours, this will add to the price. It might be more cost-effective for you to put this in when the basic transcript is returned to you!

Finally, give some serious thought to whether or not you need a verbatim transcription. Verbatim transcription includes every repeated word, every ?um? and ?erm?, all those ?filler? phrases like ?you know? and ?know what I mean? that may be repeated a hundred times in one interview, and can also include pauses, coughs, throat clearing etc. if required. Needless to say if this takes longer. If the transcriptionist can filter out all this stuff the transcript is quicker. In my company the cheapest level is what we call ?intelligent verbatim? which cuts out all these fillers but leaves the rest exactly as it?s spoken. Different transcriptionists work this differently though, so always check when you?re phoning for your quote. Here are some brief examples. Somewhat more expensive is edited, which corrects the grammar and any mispronounced words as well as knocking out all the fillers.

Verbatim

So, anyway, you know, I said ?er, ?Well, Susan, I really think you, you shouldn?t be um asking, er, me that.? And she, erm, er, she, she, well, she said, ?Look Mark, I dunno what you mean,? know what I mean?

Intelligent Verbatim

So anyway I said, ?Well, Susan, I really think you shouldn?t be asking me that.? And she said, ?Look Mark, I dunno what you mean.?

Edited

So I said, ?Well, Susan, I really think you shouldn?t be asking me that.? And she said, ?Look Mark, I don?t know what you mean.?

You can see that a whole extra line of typing is required for the verbatim work in just those two sentences.

There are occasions when verbatim is required ? depending on your topic it might be required for legal reasons, or you might be studying the language itself and the way it?s used. But if you really don?t need it, don?t end up paying for it!

There are many excellent reasons for interviewing groups of people, but don?t do this in order to try to reduce the transcription cost! As already stated, it takes much longer to transcribe a group of more than two or three people (including the moderator/interviewer) because of the time taken to distinguish the different voices and the fact that people will inevitably talk over each other, especially when they get excited, enthusiastic, impassioned or angry.

And finally, remember that the cheapest transcription quote might not be the most affordable one in the end. There is an oft-quoted phrase: if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Will it really be cost-effective to send your hard-won interviews to the cheapest service if what comes back is gobbledygook and you have to go through the whole thing correcting every other word? How much time will you then waste that could have been spent more productively on your core business?

Penguin Transcription (http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk), part of Penguin Office Services (http://www.penguinofficeservices.co.uk), offers an affordable transcription service by tailoring each quote to the exact requirements of the client. The more information the client can provide us with, and the better the quality of the recording for transcription, the more affordable the transcription service will be. Why not visit our site and fill in an enquiry form at http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk/PTS_enquiry_form.html to receive a quote for your transcription requirements.

This article is copyright, Anne Hickley, 2007.

Moderating A Focus Group for Later Transcription

Things to consider before conducting the focus group

If you are conducting a focus group and need to produce a transcript of it later on for analysis then you need to consider the transcription aspect right from the start.

What could be more frustrating than moderating a really productive and information-rich session only to find that your recording is unusable or the transcript comes back from your transcriptionist looking like gobbledegook.

Transcription of even a one-to-one interview is a tricky business and a professional transcriptionist will take around four hours per hour to transcribe a clearly recorded one-to-one interview. A focus group takes even longer because of the variety of different voices and accents, the fact that people talk over each other and the need to work out who is speaking. However, there is quite a bit you can do to make the transcription easier, and an easier transcription will take less time and therefore should cost less if you?re having it professionally transcribed.

If you?re providing refreshments preferably have the food before or after the discussion. Not only is transcription of people eating somewhat unpleasant, it?s also considerably more difficult to understand people, as you?ll know if you?ve ever listened to someone talking with their mouth full.

Do make sure you have a good enough recording system with external microphones. Putting a Dictaphone in the middle of the table is just not going to do the job. These are designed to be held close to the mouth for one person to record dictation into. For a focus group you will need a system with external microphones, ideally one per participant. If that?s not practical then one good quality microphone at the very least and preferably two or three. Do also make sure the group is meeting in a quiet self-contained room with no distractions.

Sometimes you won?t need to know who?s speaking, so long as each time a new person speaks this is indicated on the transcript. This will usually be cheaper as the transcriptionist does not have to distinguish the different voices, so it?s worth considering in advance whether you need the information on who?s speaking at any particular time.

If it is important to know who is talking then you will ideally not have more than five people of the same sex or eight people altogether, unless their voices or accents are very distinctive.

Conducting the focus group

Firstly lay down the ground rules at the beginning of the focus group. Explain why the tape recorder is there and check no one objects. Have a back-up plan or policy ready if anyone does object, or make sure everyone is notified in advance.

You will obviously need to explain what you want from the participants, why the group is being conducted, what you are researching etc. but if you don?t want this transcribed switch the recorder on after you?ve done that, or tell the transcriptionist where on the tape to start. (This is easier with digital transcription as audio tape counters are not very precise.)

Explain that people talking over each other will be problematic for the recording so ask that they please refrain from doing so. Don?t be afraid to remind them of this as when people get passionate, excited or angry they will talk over each other!

Before going any further get everyone in the group to introduce themselves. Ask them to say specific things so that you get more than a name. For example, ?Hello, can you tell me your name, where you live, your job, who else lives with you and your favourite food?. This would be appropriate for market research. For a group of scientists you might say ?can you say your name, just for the purposes of the tape, where you work and a sentence or two about your current research?. The point is that the transcriptionist has a chance to ?learn? the different voices.

It?s hard to strike the perfect balance between getting all the information and letting a true discussion develop. If the purpose of the group is to develop a discussion e.g. a group of company directors discussing government policy or a group of scientists giving opinions on your company?s latest product, then you won?t want to be continuously interjecting to remind them not to talk over each other, but if your primary reason for using a focus group rather than one-to-one interviews is financial e.g. market research, then the primary goal is probably to get opinions from as many people as possible and an in-depth discussion is not really the aim. In this case you can be firmer with moderating the group. You could, for instance, ask them to say their name every time they speak e.g. ?Mike. I think it tastes like sawdust actually?. ?Hi, I?m Lisa. I think it?s a cross between a digestive biscuit and sandpaper.? ?Mike again. Yeah, sandpaper?s a good description.? The transcript would then be produced as follows:

Mike: I think it tastes like sawdust actually Lisa: I think it?s a cross between a digestive biscuit and sandpaper. Mike: Yeah, sandpaper?s a good description.

If it?s important to stick to a discussion plan the don?t be afraid to gently reign people in if they go off track e.g. ?That?s a very interesting point Mike, but what we?re really discussing here is the price. Of course taste is extremely important and we?ll certainly be discussing it later on. For now though, what do you think of the price??

After the group ? preparing for transcription

Make a list of all the names (with correct spellings) and genders, and other relevant info e.g. Dr Sandy Shaw, Blogs Hospital NHS Trust, Qualified 10 years ? Female. Give this list to the transcriber along with the names of the moderator and anyone else who is present and makes any comment e.g. someone who?s helped to organise the group or is participating in the research.

Make sure you tell your transcriptionist exactly what you want e.g. you almost certainly won?t need a ?verbatim? transcription including every ?um? or ?er? and every repeated word. If you do need this it will probably be more expensive. Don?t be confused into thinking that it won?t be an accurate transcript if it?s not verbatim. ?Intelligent verbatim? is exactly what?s said, but leaving out all the ?speech fillers?, hesitations etc. and this is probably more practical in these situations. Sometimes you might want the answers edited to tidy up the grammar, and sometimes for market research you might want each comment categorised into a table to make the results more quantitative. Each of these ways of transcribing will be differently priced and some transcriptionists will have more experience in market research categorisation, so think carefully about what you need and make sure you find the appropriate person to carry out the work for you.

Penguin Transcription (http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk), part of Penguin Office Services (http://www.penguinofficeservices.co.uk), offers an affordable transcription service by tailoring each quote to the exact requirements of the client. The more information the client can provide us with, and the better the quality of the recording for transcription, the more affordable the transcription service will be. Why not visit our site and fill in an enquiry form at http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk/PTS_enquiry_form.html to receive a quote for your transcription requirements.

This article is copyright, Anne Hickley, 2007.

Transcription - Get Digital Recording Equipment That's Right For Your Needs

There is a bewildering away of recording equipment available to record your interviews, focus groups, conferences etc. for later transcription, but this article aims to inform you on the different features available for recorders, what they're for and how the will (or won't) be of use to you, as someone who is recording for transcription. There is an enormous price range from less than ?50 to hundreds of pounds, and this article aims to explain indicate which features cost more and what to look out for. The different features are first listed and then explained, and this should allow you to choose a machine that's right for you and your transcriptionist. As any visit to a good website or shop selling these machines will show you, this is not a comprehensive list. It's a lost of the most important aspects from a transcription point of view.

The different features are:

• Recording quality
• Frequency response
• Amount of recording time
• Computer interface
• File type
• Editing of recorded voice e.g. rewinding and adding or deleting some words
• How is the recorder powered?
• Dimensions
• Microphone jack
• Links with a speech recognition software

Recording quality will normally be indicated as SHQ - stereo high quality, HQ - high quality, SP (short play) and LP (long play). SHQ is the best quality (and stereo of course) but will take up the most memory, so you will be able to record less at this setting. LP is the poorest quality but you can record more time. Mono is probably perfectly adequate for an interview, but if you're recording a number of different people e.g. at a meeting, conference or focus group, it might be useful to have stereo recording. To use stereo you will need a stereo microphone or more than one external microphone.

The different recording qualities relate to different frequency responses. The human ear picks up audio in the range of between approximately 20 Hz and 20 kHz. But what are the most used frequencies in speech? I'd love to know but a quick Google search gives an unbelievable range of answers! I think it's fairly safe to say it's somewhere around 250 Hz to 5 kHz, with the higher end being a high-pitched woman's voice and the lower end being a low-pitched man. So it's around those ranges that you need to be looking. There is a wide range of different frequencies available in different recording machines but frankly most will record a one-to-one or one-to-two interview to acceptable quality at SP, and possibly even at LP.

The amount of recording time will depend on which recording quality you choose, and again the range of times is enormous, so you really need to think about what your needs are. You might need a long recording time if you're going to be researching 'in the field' for significant lengths of time, with no access to your PC to download files, or if you are recording a conference, especially if you want to use a high quality recording for this, which will mean you have less time. If, however, you are recording notes or dictation, or one-to-one interviews, and can regularly download information onto your PC, there is no need to save vast amounts of data onto the machine. It is probably this factor that creates the biggest price differences, so think carefully and don't buy a machine that gives you hours more time than you need.

The computer interface is a really important consideration. If you are planning to send the recordings to a transcriptionist to be transcribed you will need to download them onto your PC first. They can then either be emailed (if small enough, see file type section), transferred by FTP, or in some cases, including my company Penguin Transcription, sent using a file-sending box on the transcriptionist's website. Even if you plan to transcribe the files yourself it is a tedious business if you have to do this directly from the 'note taker' as recorders that don't have a download interface are sometimes called. Ideally the recorder will link to your PC with a USB interface, usually requiring no extra software or drivers. Alternatively it might link through a port and come with a CD containing the relevant drivers.

The file type is another very important consideration and is perhaps the one that is most often overlooked. Examples are WAV (uncompressed, great quality but enormous), WMA (Windows Media format, compressed but reasonable quality for voice), DSS (Olympus proprietary transcription file, very compressed but specially designed for voice so good quality). These are just a few examples and you can see details of a wider range of file types in my separate article on this site 'Digital File Types for Audio Transcription'. If you plan to send your files to a transcriptionist for transcription you will ideally want files that are reasonably small and can be emailed, although there are various ways of sending much larger files over the net. WAV files will not only take a long time to send, they will take up a lot of space on your PC, and on your recorder. DSS or DVF files for instance, are much more convenient as they are small and compact, can be emailed without being blocked by the server, and are delivered quickly.

Editing of recorded voice will probably be more important if you are using the machine to take dictation rather than an interview. When dictating a letter you may want to go back and delete the last few words and replace them with something else. The recorders at the mid to upper end of the price-range usually have this feature but if it's important to you it's worth checking to make sure as they by no means all have it.

How is the recorder powered? Most recorders are battery powered but if you're gong to be using your recorder significantly it's worth checking that you can use rechargeable batteries, from an environmental and cost perspective! It's also a consideration if dimensions are important to you. In particular the batteries can add considerably to the weight. Most modern recording machines are fairly light and quite discreet though. If weight is a concern make sure that the weight listed includes the batteries.

Whether or not the recorder has a microphone jack is an important consideration, as is the quality of mike that it allows you to plug in. Really for anything but one-person dictation an external microphone is a necessity. Recording an interview with only the machine's internal microphone is likely to give disappointing results. A poor recording will lead, at worst, to a poor transcription, and at best to an expensive transcription, as it will take longer to complete! If you are recording a conference you will need more than one mike, or a stereo microphone, as already mentioned.

Some recorders link with speech recognition software. As yet this type of software is really only of use for one-voice recording e.g. dictation of notes. Even then you will need to spend some time and energy 'training' the software to recognise your voice, and then carefully check the transcript as it will doubtless be ridden with mistakes, especially on homophones (words that sound the same but are spelt differently.) However, if you are going to use one of these packages then a feature that links your recorder directly to it is a useful addition.

This list is only the most important features in my opinion for transcription of interviews, dictation, focus groups and conferences. It does not cover the recording of music which requires a much wider frequency range and a number of other specialist considerations, but I hope that it is helpful for those embarking on research that requires transcription.

Penguin Transcription, part of Penguin Office Services, offers an affordable transcription service by tailoring each quote to the exact requirements of the client. The more information the client can provide us with, and the better the quality of the recording for transcription, the more affordable the transcription service will be. Why not visit our site and fill in an enquiry form at http://www.penguin-transcription.co.uk/PTS_enquiry_form.html to receive a quote for your transcription requirements. If you are looking for transcripiton equipment we use and recommend Speak IT, http://www.speakit.info

This article is copyright, Anne Hickley, 2007.

Medical Transcription Business

Medical transcription refers to the transcribing of medical records that have been dictated by health care professionals. This could be analysis, progress reports, chart notes, physicals, histories, and even letters. However, given the lack of time, most healthcare professionals simply dictate notes. Converting them into typed documents has opened up opportunities for several transcription businesses. People who perform the task of a medical transcription are known as a medical transcriptionist or a medical transcriber. There is an increasing risk of litigation faced by health care professionals. Hence, keeping a record of every piece of information has become essential. For this very reason, many people are now looking forward to starting a medical transcription business.

If an individual has a strong understanding of medical terminology and procedures, he can use the expertise and can establish a successful business in medical transcription. Medical transcriptionists generally make good amount of money by transforming physicians' dictated medical records into written copies. People consider this a lucrative business. The start-up costs are fairly low; hence, financing is required in very few cases. The infrastructure that a medical transcription business would essentially require includes computers, word processing software, an audio cassette player, and an Internet connection.

Skills and training that are needed to succeed as medical transcribers include a degree that can be offered by many vocational schools, community colleges, or online courses. The transcriptionists must also have very good listening skills to be able to decipher dictated notes. They should be able to type fast and accurately. An aptitude for medical science and language can also help.

Hospitals, physicians, medical and diagnostic laboratories, outpatient care centers, offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, audiologists and counselors are typical clients requiring medical transcription services. Transcription businesses can approach these organizations in order to acquire their transcription work. They may present in the form of monthly assignments or projects. They can get paid according to these assignments or on monthly basis.

Due to the continually evolving medical industry and new terminologies, it is essential for businesses to keep themselves informed of the latest jargon used in the industry. It is essential to refresh the knowledge base every three years and get certificates to justify the same.

Medical Transcription provides detailed information on Medical Transcription, Medical Transcription Service, Medical Transcription Courses, Medical Transcription at Home and more. Medical Transcription is affiliated with Online Medical Transcription Courses.

My Review of Systems as a Medical Transcriptionist

I am writing this article to pass on some of the wonderful experiences I have had through the profession of medical transcription. This wonderful part of my life started like this. I have been a medical transcriptionist for 20 years, but I did not know about this profession until after I had tried nursing, waitressing and insurance sales. After wandering through these other occupations unfulfilled, I was primed and ready for a career I felt I was suited for. But what could I possibly be suited for? I was equipped with a degree in nursing, but what do you do with a nursing degree when you don?t like nursing? Starvation was a very real consequence when I sold insurance, so I knew I was not a sales person. I could always wait tables, but how much longer would my feet hold out? During this time when I was soul searching and trying to figure out what to do, I took a job as a medical secretary which involved scheduling surgery, making appointments, filing and a very small amount of transcribing office notes. In the job interview, I told the office manager I had a good bit of medical terminology knowledge and some, ?experience,? in a hospital. I deliberately did not tell her I had an RN degree and wanted this job as a secretary instead as this would probably have led to her looking at me wide eyed and then saying,?I?m sorry, you?re over qualified.? This job perked along just adequately, but it was here I realized I found transcription to be fun. I looked forward to it and was disappointed every day when the tape ran out after only an hour. I was one step closer to finding the profession of my dreams.

My first full-time transcription job (heaven!) was in a hospital in the city where I live. For the first time, I knew the career area in my life had gelled. All my education and experiences (good and bad, recent and distant) had come together and culminated in my becoming a medical transcriptionist. Any other kind of transcription simply is not the same as the medical field. Legal transcription, for example, I found to be extraordinarily boring. It is both the medical field and the transcription field put together that produces this unique profession.

When I have trained new transcriptionists who were really new with no experience in the field, I could decide within 15 minutes if they were going to stay at the job or leave flabbergasted and astounded that we actually do this. They never get comfortable sitting at the keyboard and actually look as if they are about to get up at any time. The keyboard is an awkward contraption that?s impossible to operate with only 10 fingers. Word Perfect is Word Insanity to them. Their headphones are an awkward instrument of sensory deprivation. After they have entered the correct directory, pulled up the proper form and named it, they always look at you wanting to know how much money they have made so far. When they look up a word, they aimlessly wander around the book, hoping the correct term will jump up and say hello. I give these poor souls one day at the most, but there was one pitiful girl who lasted less than one day, unfortunately because of something I said.

Three-quarters of the way through the day, I stupidly asked her if she had remembered to save before leaving the document. She replied she had left the computer turned on. Long story short, she never even came back to get her glasses. There was one new recruit who actually exclaimed, ?Why do you do this?? to which I responded, ?I enjoy it and the money?s good.? This has always gotten me a look from them that meant they thought I was insane. A physician told me once, ? I don?t see why you don?t go stark raving mad, sitting here all day and typing.? I replied, ?who says we don?t?? I?ve always felt you had to be a little quirky to honestly want to do this job. After all, you sit and type and sit and type and sit and type, and then you sit and type some more. It?s not unusual to continue to hear doctor?s voices dictating in your head after you?ve gone home from work, although I?ve learned to be careful how I say that, especially to someone who?s not a transcriptionist. Another occasion where someone looked at me like they thought I was insane (who says I?m not?).

Having been in this profession for so long, I have also become able to spot the, ?real,? transcriptionists, so they are called by the veterans. You judge for yourself. The, ?real,? transcriptionists actually enjoy sitting and typing, plugged into headphones for hours on end. Production is their passion, and they pound away tediously, completely content, pausing only to look up words or do the ever necessary proofreading.

Then, (eyes rolling) there are the people who like to call themselves transcriptionists and end up irritating the life out of the rest of us who really are. They come to work chattering, they work chattering and they leave chattering. When your concentration is broken , it takes a few minutes to get back to that point. These guys rattle on and on about every doctor, every patient, every irrelevant detail they can think of to talk out loud about. This usually results in the serious transcriptionists staring steadily at the chatterbox and typing all the while (which is a real transcriptionist?s talent akin to patting your head and scratching your stomach) until the offender notices they are being stared down by a clerical lynch mob and finally hush. Then, they give the rest of us that, ?you?re insane,? look with a hint of, ?I?m offended, I thought I was entertaining you guys.?

A so-called transcriptionist who asks the same question three times in one week is usually dubbed an, ?Alzheimer?s patient.? These people have a defective short-term memory and cannot remember what they were told or what they looked up for longer than a couple days. A good transcriptionist has a memory that never fails. The Alzheimer?s patients are also the people who ask about a word out loud instead of looking it up. They get in as much trouble as the chatterboxes.

There are also the comedians who have to announce to everyone in the room something humorous (or is it humerus?) they heard in dictation. This produces a polite, very small smile from the rest of us while never missing a keystroke (or the lynch mob might gather), silently hoping the, ?typist,? would either hush or go home. To be labeled a typist is the strongest putdown that can be bestowed. You see, a typist is someone who mechanically manipulates the keys on a keyboard, and nothing more. Your average monkey could accomplish this. They usually hunt and peck which produces a large silent grin (never missing a keystroke) from the rest of us that they never know about. A transcriptionist (harrumph!) is a professional with an extensive knowledge of medical terminology, editing, spelling, punctuation, English, word processing, pharmacology, lab and pathology, and sometimes foreign accent interpretation who melds all these abilities together seamlessly at 100 words per minute. We also have the necessary ability to communicate with each other with our eyes and expressions. As mentioned before, the professional transcriptionist is capable of transcribing and socializing silently at the same time.

Another valuable source of experience is the mental hospital. Let me explain! The patients there are usually required to have a general physical exam before they start having psychotherapy with their psychiatrists. In my mental hospital experience (as an employee, not a patient, mind you), I found the social histories fascinating. They read like good books and are very interesting.

I?ve always thought it would be risky for me or any transcriptionist to undergo general anesthesia because I just might spout someone?s private information. Incidentally, knowing a celebrity?s medical diagnoses is unnerving, not exciting, especially if it?s something like a sexually transmitted disease or a mental problem. Public figures and movie stars see doctors also; they are not immune needing medical treatment. Needless to say, that?s all the details I?ll put in this particular paragraph, citing confidentiality! You can?t be a transcriptionist and play Rona Barrett or a reporter for the National Enquirer.

When I worked in medical records in a mental hospital, I found that mental illness can strike anyone at any time. In this job, the psychiatrists (shrinks) visit their patients every day and dictate daily progress notes. Now, you have a serial TV show-type situation where every day there are new developments. When we heard that old familiar whir and click of the machine activating, we waited anxiously like housewives waiting for their favorite soap opera to come on. The machine would stop and the lucky one of us to grab the dictation first would tell us the news (only within the transcription room, mind you!) Some patients sank deeper and deeper into insanity, and others made a wonderful recovery. Just a bit of trivia; shrinks have the most entertaining sense of humor of all doctors I have ever known.

Back to maintaining confidentiality, this includes not repeating to anyone the statements or innuendoes made on the dictation whether knowingly or accidentally by the dictator. A word of advice: don?t dictate in bed. If someone remembers something they need to dictate after climbing into bed, then they should get up before dictating and be doubly sure the recording has ended lest they document whatever else takes place in their bed and who it takes place with! Sorry, no more details with this one, except to mention that dictating right after you eat can provide the transcriptionist with some entertainment, accidental or not. Everyone should remember, most recorders pick up all sound that occurs in the room, and some dictators foolishly think they are, ?alone,? in the room even when the recorder is running. We don?t type in ?eructation,? or ?flatus;? we just laugh and report it to everyone in the room. For the aspiring transcriptionist, look up eructation and flatus, and get a good laugh. Due to events described in this paragraph, there are doctors I can?t look in the eye any more and they don?t know why.

So many good experiences, so little space. I?ll sign off now with no chief complaints, only a review of systems within wonderful limits and a bright prognosis. See you in a follow-up visit!

You can contact Carol Roberts through by email at: meditrans@aol.com

Carol has been a medical transcriptionist for over 20 years and has been certified by the American Association for Medical Transcription. She owns and operates Carol Roberts Transcription in Pembroke Georgia and is a staff consultant for Meditrans Help, the medical transcription help site, http://www.meditranshelp.com

Medical Transcription - Great Home Business Or Hyped Opportunity

With globalization in full swing and job security a thing of the past, with ever increasing gas prices and the time spent commuting simply time lost, more and more people are looking for alternative ways to pay the bills and escape the rat race. One alternative that many are looking at is Medical Transcription.

Sounds like a viable option but is it possible make living from home with medical transcription? Sure, it's possible but there's more to it than the average sales letter espousing the opportunity with tell you.

This brief article will outline a few of the pros and cons of the opportunity and hopefully bring to light a few facts that will allow you to better assess if medical transcription from home is for you.

On the positive side, many people are earning a nice living performing medical transcription from the comfort of their own homes. Incomes of $50,000 to $75,000 are realistic and some medical transcriptionists make even more but on the other hand, there's more to it than you might think. In addition, because more and more transcription is being outsourced, once you establish yourself as a reliable and competent contractor, you should have more work than you can handle.

Here are few things to consider as you ponder a new career in medical transcription at home.

Medical Terminology

It's essential to have a thorough understanding of medical terminology and the proper spelling of these terms. The reason is simple, accuracy is essential in any transcription and because time is money in this profession and because you are paid by the amount of work you can produce, if you're struggling with every other word you won't get much done. Of course, you would clearly have medical spellchecking software on your computer but if you don't understand the terms as you listen to the dictated messages you won't be as productive as you need to be.

Of course, you don't need to be familiar with all medical terminology because most transcriptionists specialize in specific areas such as ophthalmology.

Listening Skills

Most of the time, you will be transcribing from some type of audio tape and these tapes are not always the best quality and doctors are not thinking of you when they are dictating. They are not thinking of proper sentence structure and speaking in a clear manner and so you will be dealing with the problem of trying to figure out what is being said. They just talk away and it's up to you to figure out what they said.

Just another reason why it's so important to have a thorough understanding of medical terminology and their associated conditions so that you can properly interpret and extrapolate what the doctor is trying to say.

Vacation

As you get established you'll have plenty of work but as in any business you need to have coverage at all times. So what happens when you want to go on vacation? Of course, you'll need someone to take over your work and because many medial transcriptionists specialize in certain fields your backup may not be familiar with your specialty and thus the chances of errors will increase. On the flip side, you may also be asked to backup another medical transcriptionist when they go on vacation and have to deal with their field of expertise and a whole slew of new terms.

Medical transcription isn't for everyone but if you've got above average typing skills and you enjoy the freedom of doing your own thing and working when you want, it's a realistic way to earn a good to great living from the comfort of your home.

Tip - For more information on a career in Medical Transcription, check out the links below.

Visit medical transcription or medical transcription course or medical transcriptionist for more info on Medical Transcription.

Job Opportunities for Medical Transcription

Job opportunities for MTs are expected to grow faster than average for the next several years. Health care facilities continue to expand, and employment opportunities should expand with them.

Settings for work in this field are varied. Medical transcription job opportunities include working in hospitals or physician's offices. Government medical facilities provide another option for job seekers. Individuals looking for work in this field can also look in diagnostic laboratories, business support services, and transcription service offices. MT job opportunities can be found anywhere there is medical need.

Medical transcription employment is not restricted to offices. Many transcriptionists work from home. Some work as contracted freelancers and have varied hours. Others work as employees of hospitals or clinics who allow their transcriptionists to telecommute. The internet can be used to receive and send transcription, making it possible to work from any location.

An aging population requires more health care. More health care services coupled with the need for electronic documentation insures continued medical transcription job opportunities.

Pay for medical transcription jobs ranges from approximately $10.00 an hour to about $20.00 per hour. Pay can be based on an hourly rate or a production rate. Some medical transcription jobs are paid an hourly rate with bonuses for high production.

Medical transcription opportunities include the chance for advancement. After gaining experience, transcriptionists can move into editing or consulting. They can also teach.

If you are looking for a career in a growing field that offers the ability to advance or to work from home, consider medical transcription. It's difficult in this day to find careers that are not threatened by layoffs, but the future looks bright with medical transcription. Outsourcing to other countries is expected to be limited in this field, and increasing medical demands will only make these jobs more secure.

For individuals who are independent, career-oriented, and enjoy the medical field, explore medical transcription. It might just be what you've been looking for.

For more information on starting a medical transcription career or making more money as an MT visit www.AskTheMT.com - an informative website dedicated to answering all your medical transcription questions.

Medical Transcription As A Home Business

The medical transcription industry continues to grow. As the need for individuals in this field keeps growing, the options for working at home also grow.

Starting a medical transcription home business is a good area to start in if you would like to work at home and receive the same pay you would if you were in the office. There are a couple of ways to work in your home-based MT business. One way is to find a traditional employer who gives you all the benefits of working in-house, but who allows you to do this from home. This is more likely to happen if you have worked for this employer in an office already. Another way to set up a medical transcription business is to accept clients through advertising. This would be a freelance MT business.

If you are going to start your own business, remember that it might take some time getting clients. Don't forget that you are not limited in location. You may be able to find clients for your medical transcription business through the internet. As demand increases, the needs for your services will increase.

Though you want to charge the going rate for medical transcription, working from home allows you to be flexible with fees. You can charge somewhat higher than somebody working in an office because your client does not have to pay for insurance or a pension for you. Working in your own home business also allows you to set your own hours. If you want to work full time, you can. If you want part-time hours, this is not a problem. If you want vacation time, just be sure you don't accept work that will not get done before you go.

If you like to be there to take your children to school and pick them up afterwards, a medical transcription business is a good option. It will pay more than most work-at-home jobs but offer all the benefits of being at home. You don't have to worry about the commute or the parking. With a medical transcription business, you can work in the morning or, if you are a night owl, work in the evening.

Many people prefer to work from home. Few can actually make a living this way. Medical transcriptionists are among these few, and opportunities are expected to grow in the coming years.

If you are interested in a job that allows you the flexibility to stay home, consider a medical transcription business. It is one of your best options for working from home.

For more information on starting a medical transcription career or making more money as an MT visit http://www.AskTheMT.com ? an informative website dedicated to answering all your medical transcription questions.

Finding an EMR System that can Handle Medical Transcription SOAP Notes

Searching for the Right EMR Solution

The electronic medical record, or EMR, is a standard electronic database solution used by medical practices and medical service providers. The EMR solution technology effectively manages medical histories, records, and notes; however, all EMR solutions are not created equal. Before adopting an EMR solution, medical practices and medical service providers must search for the EMR solution that meets their specific needs. Two important needs common to most medical practices and medical service providers include medical transcription and SOAP note management.

Sifting through EMR Software

The best way to find what youre looking for is to begin with the end in mind, as Steven R. Covey says. Companies may have a small staff, or they may still be using a transcription machine. A practice may need more security, more automation, and better control of SOAP notes or other medical transcription information. In order to find what you need, you need to list them out. The list may look similar to this:

Medical Transcription and SOAP Note Management
Document Scanning Attachments
Customized Data Fields
Medicare or Medicaid Billing Software
Procedure Code (HCFA 1500 forms, CPT code books, ICD.9 codes)
Medical Billing Software
Medical Billing Specialist Support
Diagnosis Code Directory

Finding the right EMR Online

Search engines are one of the most popular tools for finding the software you need, but finding the right EMR online presents its own challenges. For example, typing EMR system into any of the big three search engines will yield results similar to the following, which I looked up the day I posted this article: Google 566,000; Yahoo 547,000; MSN 242,835. This means that hundreds of thousands of indexed pages claim to have what you are looking for. So how do you sift through them all? Sometimes searches have to be narrowed by using the listed items above as a part of the search. Since medical practices and medical service providers need to control SOAP notes and medical transcription, use these terms to begin to narrow down the search.

EMR Benefits

An earlier article on EMR benefits lists characteristics of an EMR system that a medical practice or a medical service provider might enjoy with an EMR. In the Information Age of business, speed and efficiency are paramount to success. And when it comes to medical services, success is not only measured by a fiscal year but by a satisfied customer. An EMR system can make an office run smoothly, so that the customer always comes first.
Joe Miller is an online advertiser, specializing in medical software. More information on EMR and Medical Transcription, visit AdvanceMD.com.