Choosing a medical transcription company can be quite overwhelming. There are many choices that it is hard to pick one transcriptionist over another. However, several factors can make a client’s experience with a company shine, or turn into a nightmare.

The hallmark of any medical transcription company should be their accuracy. Because the medical information in the transcriptions are so vital, even a minor careless error can make the finished transcript difficult to read or unclear, and may potentially affect a patient’s healthcare. To reduce mistakes, which can potentially lead as far as a lawsuit, and to increase patient satisfaction in general, producing accurate work is a necessity. The best medical transcription companies carefully screen all their applicants, and demand that their transcriptionists provide the highest quality work possible. This is an especially important issue now, with so many medical transcription companies employing workers overseas in places like India.

Although the initial cost of overseas workers may be slightly less, in the long run, not having a native speaker produce the transcript can lead to misunderstandings which result in medical transcriptions that are less than accurate.

There are a few companies, such as Oracle Transcription, which realize that cutting costs by sending work to India is not worth the inferior work product that results. They instead insist on using trained, highly-skilled transcriptionists who are based in the United States. By using modern technology and communications, they can recruit and harness the skills of the best transcriptionists located all across the country. Having U.S.-based transcriptionists can also save time and aggravation for the person who is providing the medical dictation. Native transcriptionists have a working knowledge of common names and places in the United States, and are able to understand English spoken in any dialect.

One way that transcription companies can insure the quality of their workers is to employ only certified transcriptionists. The most common certification in the field is that awarded by the Association for Health Documentation Integrity (AHDI). It is important to note that there is no required certification in the medical transcription field, so transcriptionists who have taken the initiative to get certified are those that are very competent and dedicated to the profession. Certification is earned through taking a comprehensive exam, which is standardized and can be taken only through a professional facility that is experienced in administering tests.

Far from being an entry-level exam, the AHDI suggests that a potential test-taker have two years or more of experience doing transcription in the acute care setting. The certification is good for only three years, and transcriptionists must take continuing education courses before they apply to have their certification renewed.

Transcriptionists who have the Certified Medical Transcription (CMT) certification through the AHDI have proven their competency in transcribing medical dictation. Companies which only hire CMT-certified transcriptionists are highly dedicated to producing efficient, reliable, high-quality work for all of their clients. A client who hires a company who only uses CMT certified transcriptionists can be assured that the finished transcript will be of the highest quality possible. Asking a company if they employ CMT-certified transcriptionists is a simply and quick way for the potential client to gage the reliability of the medical transcriptionist company that they are investigating.