About Home Based Medical Transcription

Dear Reader:

Are you a medical transcriptionist wanting to start working from home? There are many MTs who wish to avoid the hassles of traveling to offices through the busy city traffic. While working from home is a great idea for so many people, getting started with HT is a big problem for most. Let us take a look at what it takes for an MT to start work from home.

COMPUTER HARDWARE: You need a PC of good configuration. Pentium IV machines are quite common these days. Gone are the days when people would recommend a minimum of Pentium II processors. If you have the money to go for an Intel Core 2 Duo, nothing like it. You need a minimum of 512 MB of RAM. Most of the branded PCs come with in-built quality sound cards. Still, if you are very particular about the quality of your audio output, you can go for an external sound card like Creative Soundblaster, but you will have to bear the extra cost.

Monitor: TFT monitors are in vogue these days. These consume less energy and there is much less strain on your precious eyes. A 17-inch TFT monitor comes for less than Rs. 9,000.

Keyboard: Branded computers come with a keyboard. However, it is your duty to make sure you have a feather touch keyboard. A hard touch keyboard will slow you down and also cause problems for your wrists in the long run.

Headset: You need a quality headset to listen to the dictations. If your soundcard is giving a great output, then the quality of the headset will not matter much. However, if you have an in-built soundcard, then it is recommended you get a stereo headset with amplifier.

Footpedal: A quality 3-button foot pedal is essential, if you are not comfortable using the keyboard shortcuts. Foot pedals are freely available with most of the computer hardware dealers since there is a steady demand for quality foot pedals from transcriptionists everywhere.

POWER BACKUP: If you live in a place where power fails frequently, you must have a power backup for at least 2 hours so that during power failure you can complete a great deal of your assignments. A standard 600 VA UPS with a car battery would provide 2-hour backup at a cost of about Rs. 4000-5000. If you are willing to spend some more money, you shouLd go for an 8-hour power backup which would enable you to finish all the assigned files for the day.

INTERNET: This is where most of the medical transcriptionists stumble. Even if you have the best configuration PC and full 8-hour power backup, you need a good internet connection to receive dictations and upload transcripts. Most of the MTs opt for just one internet connection. This is the biggest mistake they make. Always have a second active internet connection for backup purpose. Providers like BSNL, Airtel, Tata Indicomm, and Reliance cover most of the areas in cities. You can also ask your cable guy if he is providing one. However, you must do a thorough homework while choosing your ISP (internet service provider). Ask for existing customer information and collect a feedback before you take the plunge.

You have to choose the connection plan according to your data transfer and speed requirements. Unlimited options are great in that you can download anything you want without being bothered about extra charges. However, speed and uptime are big negative factors in unlimited options. If you are sure what your monthly data transfer is going to be, then you can as well opt for a traffic based plan, which I have found to be much better compared to the unlimited option.

SOFTWARE: You need a genuine operating system and genuine reference software. This is not a major worry these days, since most of the companies providing home-based transcription work will load your PC with all relevant software specifically per their requirements, of course, at a cost.

FIND HOME-BASED TRANSCRIPTION WORK: I presume the reader of this article to be a trained medical transcriptionist. If not, you need to get trained in medical transcription. Companies generally look for transcriptionists with a minimum of one-year experience in a live atmostphere to become HBTs. You can find HT providers in your own city, specifically you can find them in Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, and every city that has a transcription company.

Please see the list of Medical Transcription Companies in Bangalore and MT Jobs in Bangalore pages.

You must have a PAN number. If you do not have one, apply immediately. It takes about 15 days to get one.


While at work, HBTs tend to rush through the files in an effort to do more lines to augment earnings. This is a wrong trend. One needs to understand that the very basis of an MT's existence is his/her quality. If you don't meet the set quality standards, it won't help you even if you transcribe 30,000 lines a month. However, if you maintain high quality, you will definitely survive and make a great deal of money in the long run.

Accountability and reliability are the two qualities HBTs must essentially possess. Your willingness to help the production team achieve a difficult TAT or turn around a difficult account will serve you in good stead. Hence make sure you are logging in and working at the appropriate time as you have agreed with your provider and deliver great quality work under all circumstances.

I wish you all the very best in everything you do in life.

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