As someone who is interested in medical transcription jobs, you probably would like to know a little bit more about how it all got started, and how far the history of medical transcription actually dates back. Obviously, as you may already know, medical transcription is the process of typing out a patient’s medical record. The record consists of all details, big and small, of a patient’s visit to the doctor’s office: their symptoms, medications, height, weight, etc. Basically, anything that can helpful for future reference in any case whatsoever, whether it be for a referral, a possible medical procedure, or simply a record for the doctor to refer back to when making a diagnosis.
Medical transcription has been around for hundreds of years, since the beginning of medical treatment. In those days, doctors were the ones who kept record of all of the details. The first recordings were found on wooden and metal tablets, on the walls of caves, hieroglyphs, parchment, temple walls, and then eventually – paper. The more that time went on, things got even more modern.
Suffice it to say that back then, there wasn’t a such thing as medical transcriptionist salary because the doctor was doing all of the work. Transcription jobs were eventually turned over to medical stenographers in the early 1900s. It was their job to write out the medical record. There were no computers at that time in transcription history, so things were still a bit difficult. There is a great possibility that record files weren’t as precise and lacked in a lot of important detail. Regardless, the process was coming right along, and the records were finally being stored in filing cabinets in doctors’ offices.
It wasn’t long after the handwritten record that typewriters were invented. The invention of typewriters transitioned into electronic typewriters. From there, word processors and computers came into the picture. Tape recorders were introduced into the profession around the middle 1900s, making things even more clear and precise than ever before.
In no time, the possibility of becoming a certified medical transcriptionist became a reality, especially with the innovation of the internet back in 1992, increasing the need for even more transcription jobs. Starting out, transcriptionist pay was obviously not what it is today. If you would like a general idea of how much the pay has increased over the last few decades, take a look at the minimum wage increase. Today, transcriptionist salary ranges from.6 cents per line to.14 cents per line in most areas, and hourly rates range from $9.00 to $17.00.
As you can see, things have changed drastically over the last few centuries. What was once just an old wooden tablet has turned into state of the art electronic medical record. Now, there is speech recognition software, but it still cannot replace the medical transcription, nor will it ever. The future of transcription jobs is just going to get better. In the upcoming years, more and more jobs are expected to become available, making it one of the world’s number one leading job industries.
Susan Eliot is an expert in the field of medical transcription. She is an excellent resource when it comes to finding medical transcriptionist jobs. She owns and operates her own medical transcription company and knows first hand all the details about medical transcriptionist salary.
Author: Susan B. Eliot
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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