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Medical Transcription Overview
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Your First
Client There are many people who feel that it's necessary to formalize the agreement with your clients through a contract, and sample contracts are available in the MT literature and on the Internet. If you don't feel this is necessary, you should at least prepare a "Memorandum of Understanding" that specifies every little detail you have discussed with your clients, and maybe some that you forgot to talk about. This doesn't have to be a very involved document but it should be complete, including your payment terms. Be sure that it is reviewed by your contact at the office. Before you begin their work, organize your hard drive to accommodate each client's data files, backup files and archived files. Set up a paper-file system so you never appear disorganized when talking to a client about their work or their account. Ask your client for representative reports for every type of dictation you will be doing. Every MT (newbie or experienced) who takes on a new account will have a learning curve while becoming accustomed to the providers' dictation and possibly a new specialty. Previously transcribed reports can be lifesavers, and there's nothing at all wrong in asking for these reports. You also need to visualize specific formatting. Place these in plastic covers and create a file for these little helpers - you will refer to them frequently. The first three or four months that you work, you MUST take extreme care with the proofing part of your job. It's a good idea to re-listen to the tapes while proofing draft prints. (Proofing on the screen comes MUCH later -- don't take this shortcut now). Run the document through your speller AFTER you have made changes, as well as before. Take extra time to check every heading, paragraph spacing and other formatting requirements. Check that you've spelled every provider's name correctly (better yet, put each of them in a macro so you don't ever make a mistake). Read over every document after you have made all your changes and think it's perfect -- you'll be amazed at the mistakes you find. While clients may be understanding about blanks left in reports (particularly from a new MT), they will NOT be understanding about spelling, typing or formatting errors. Remember, you are an independent business person (not just a new employee) and your work speaks for you. This careful verification is the process that takes a newbie so much time -- along with all the research you will be doing. But the care you take now will pay off immediately as your client is thrilled with the quality of your work... and will pay off later as word-of-mouth praise builds your reputation and client base. Please, forget what your sixth-grade teacher told you and WRITE IN YOUR REFERENCE BOOKS everything that you have had to research. Keep a notebook, card file or computer data file with gems that you find... as well as committing them to memory. You should only ever have to seriously research a term once -- after that, you should have it either in your memory or at your fingertips. As you find terms in word books (which only quote the word and do not give the definition), take the extra time to look up the definition and try to memorize it. This allows you to verify that the usage is correct and gives you confidence in both your research and the work you produce. Always try to verify the mystery word against two sources. One of the biggest dangers in working by yourself (without a mentor or supervisor) is that you may not know you've made an error -- but your client will. While researching, try every vowel or combination of vowel to nail an elusive sound on the tape. Use the wildcard lookups in your online speller and dictionary to help you find the rest of the word. Use your "Monthly Prescribing Reference" to help figure out drugs by looking up the disease -- or by looking through ALL the drugs under a particular beginning letter. You can figure out lab tests by disease by checking the back of the Laboratory Test Handbook. The Merck Manual can be a huge help these first weeks as you wade through unfamiliar diseases, procedures and diagnoses. Gray's Anatomy can lead you by the hand through the most complicated anatomical structures. Keep your training course notes handy and refer to them as you need to check style questions or phrasing. If you have a contact person at your client's office, use him or her sparingly -- after you have exhausted every possibility, including the Internet -- and only if you have been invited to ask questions. Don't expect a lot of feedback from the providers - you rarely get it. If you are asked to make corrections, do them quickly, humbly, without any explanations. If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes, get help from your training school or on the Internet - FAST. Do you very best to clear up misunderstandings, and PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS. If you are not a detail-oriented person (as I am not), force yourself to go over each and every tiny detail of the client's requirements and work every day before you return their reports. Make a checklist if necessary to be sure you have caught every possibility. This will help form careful habits in your work and ensure a great product for your client. Be sure that you meet every deadline that you have agreed to, and be sure that every encounter with your client is a positive one. Now is not the time to complain about the little cupcakes who staff most medical offices. Do more than your part at first, be as pleasant and friendly as you possibly can, build relationships. Taking in home-baked goodies or flowers or boxes of candy certainly won't hurt -- but don't spend a lot of time chitchatting with the office staff just to be pleasant. Their time is valuable, and so is yours. Be open and accommodating when your client expresses future MT needs and looks to you to fulfill them -- even if it means that you have to learn more of your word processor or computer's capabilities. Meeting a client's needs is what being in business is all about. This is where your service may differentiate you from past transcriptionists they may have used. Sometimes a client's requests may not be within the medical transcription arena but are more of a secretarial nature and you may have to make a personal decision whether or not to expand your horizon. Just be sure that you analyze the effort versus return and that you are paid properly for ALL your work.
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