Medical Transcription Management Options

The Medical Transcription Manager

Many practicing and aspiring medical transcriptionists inquire about the potential for career advancement to in the medical transcription industry. This is not only a valid question, but also a great goal. There are plenty of opportunities for advancement in the medical transcription industry. Good medical transcription managers are in short supply. The reality is that many medical transcriptionists would rather retain the flexibility of being their own boss and doing what they enjoy doing on a production basis. As a result, healthcare providers and medical transcription services often have difficulty attracting qualified medical transcriptionists to management level roles. Most medical transcriptionists have a tremendous amount of autonomy and many are reluctant to give it up to take on additional responsibility. A promotion to medical transcription manager is frankly not always appealing to many independent medical transcriptionists.

However, there are many people who thrive on the challenges of working in a faster paced environment and in assuming higher levels of authority and responsibility within an organization. They see the benefits of advancing their medical transcription career and increasing their long term income potential as well as earning retirement benefits. A medical transcription management position can provide continued upward career mobility and result in a challenging and rewarding medical transcription career.
There are several options available for anyone considering a career in medical transcription management. The interesting thing to note is that the options continue to grow as technology developments transform the industry.

Medical Transcription Manager of Quality Assurance (QA)

A medical transcription manager of QA does just what the title implies. He or she reviews the transcribed documents that come in from home based medical transcriptionists; evaluates them against a set of quality criteria; and edits them to ensure they meet the quality standards prescribed by the healthcare provider. Medical transcription QA experts look for errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar – often using sophisticated tools to assist them in this effort. They also look for important medical transcription errors in the transcribed documents that could lead to misinterpretations of the data by a physician or other health care provider. The medical transcription QA manager is highly regarded and is integral to the optimal flow of any transcription operation.

Medical Transcription Supervisor

Another important medical transcription manager is the Medical Transcription Supervisor. Medical transcription supervisors work either for a hospital or a medical transcription service provider. The role of the medical transcription supervisor is to manage a team of medical transcriptionists. The medical transcription supervisor is responsible for scheduling, hiring, firing, evaluating, and managing all medical transcriptionists as well as medical transcription workflows and ensuring compliance with medical transcription report turnaround requirements. The medical transcription supervisor also ensures that all medical transcription associates are equipped with a full complement of medical transcription equipment and medical transcription resources to perform their jobs as efficiently as possible. The transcription supervisor facilitates the development of the medical transcription staff by working with HR and training departments to see that medical transcription resources are aligned with peak workloads and that all MT specialty areas are properly staffed to meet turnaround requirements. The Medical Transcription Supervisor generally reports to a Medical Records Director of a hospital or possibly a director or vice president of a medical transcription service provider. A medical transcription supervisor often possesses a CMT (certified medical transcriptionist) credential from an certifying organization such as AHDI(Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity).

Medical Transcription Trainer

Another important medical transcription management function is that of medical transcription trainer. MT trainers will train medical transcriptionists on new account types and specialty areas. Medical transcription account specific information will vary from client to client and each medical transcriptionist will require training on the account specifics, turnaround requirements, and special instructions relating to each medical transcription account they service. An MT trainer will be responsible for developing the talent pool of the oganization's medical transcription staff and will work closely with the medical transcription supervisor to ensure that the staff is optimally deployed for maximum effectiveness in meeting the production needs of the department or organization. Cross training is also an essential function of the MT trainer. It is imperative that all members of a medical transcription staff are capable of shifting their focus at a moment’s notice to accommodate an urgent need resulting from either a new client startup or the absence of one or more key medical transcriptionists. A trainer may also monitor and recommend continuing education training opportunities to medical transcription associates throughout the year.

Medical Transcription Recruiter

The medical transcription recruiter is increasingly one of the most important medical transcription managers in an organization. Their job is to continually develop and replenish the base of medical transcription talent within an organization. The medical transcription recruiter is constantly searching the country for qualified medical transcriptionists to add to department or company staff. Medical transcription recruiters run ads, conduct interviews, and work with other medical transcription managers to forecast future needs for medical transcriptionists. They are also responsible for identifying opportunities to increase retention among existing medical transcription associates.

Medical Records Director

The Medical Records Director is typically a credentialed medical records specialist who oversees all aspects of the medical record production and archiving process. The medical records director will typically manage all medical transcription and medical coding supervisors and sometimes the medical billing functions of a healthcare organization. A medical records director will work with the medical transcription supervisor to ensure that all medical records documents are transcribed in accordance with contract requirements and that medical records are made available in a timely and professional manner to the healthcare professionals that need them. The secure electronic storage and delivery of medical records is a key function of the medical records director. This individual will need to continually search out best practices and evaluate new and innovative medical records technologies to ensure that the medical records department operates at peak productive capacity. The health and well being of thousands of patients depends on the quality production and timely dissemination of medical record information. The medical records director is also responsible to ensure that all processes, documentation, workflows, relationships, and systems are HIPAA compliant. A medical records director may possess one or more credentials or designations from a certifying organization such as AHDI, AHIMA, or AAPC. Credentials such as RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CPC, and CMT demonstrate a long term commitment to the medical records profession and are evidence of the medical records expertise developed by the medical records director over the years.

Voice Recognition Medical Transcription Specialist

The relatively recent emergence of voice recognition specialists and supervisors is a good example of how new career opportunities are created in response to significant technology advancements in the medical transcription industry. These are position that were not even on the radar screen a decade ago. As voice recognition technology gains a foothold in the medical transcription industry, more and more of the medical transcription workflow is going to be processed through a speech recognition engine. This will in no way eliminate the need for medical transcription, but it will transform the role of a growing subset of the transcription workforce. An increasing number of medical transcriptionists will use a speech recognition processed document as a starting point for their transciption activities. Speech recognition produced documents generally require significant editing. This editing process will be performed by medical transcrptionists whose role will change from traditional transcriptionist to medical language editor. The technology behind voice recognition processing is sufficiently different from traditional digital transcription that voice recognition supervisors will be required to manage these new processes.

By: cldunn-37017
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Christopher Dunn has been active in the medical transcription industry for over 15 years in both operations and training. For more information please visit the following websites: Medical-Transcription-Program.com Medical-Transcription-School.com