Answered At Last: Do You Have to Become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist?

If you've been considering becoming a medical transcriptionist you most likely have wondered if you need to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist. Don't let the title frighten you away!scare you off from pursuing a great at-home career! Once you know some basic things about certification you'll know precisely what your next step should be. Here are the basics:

First, you may be wondering exactly what is a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT). It is a voluntary certification awarded by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). (They were formerly known as the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) and many people still use this name, though AHDI encourages people to use their new name).

Second, the most important thing you should know is that you do not need to be a certified medical transcriptionist in order to work at home as an MT. The reality is that most doctors still are not aware that certification exists for the medical transcriptionist! While some MTs have certification, most do not (estimates range that there are between 100,000 and 300,000 MTs in the United States and currently there are only about 3,000 certified medical transcriptionists). That percentage may change in the future as technological advances cause more MTs to transition to being MT editors, with a greater skill level needed to edit advanced healthcare documentation.

AHDI's purpose for trying to encourage all medical transcriptionists to be credentialed is to encourage high professional and ethical standards in the medical transcription industry. They figured that if there were certification it would be an assurance both to the public and to doctors that the transcriptionists who got it had worked and studied hard, really knew what transcribing reports is all about, and had several years of experience to prove it!

If you choose to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist you will need to take a test given by AHDI. While they don't actually require it, AHDI does highly recommend that you have two years of acute care transcription experience before you sit for the CMT certification examination. They recommend this because they want to ensure that you are truly ready to take and pass the examination the first time you take it. Those two years of experience need to include multiple dictators who speak English as a second language, various report types including surgery, and some specialty clinic work as well. If you have all that under your belt you will have a much higher chance of passing the exam the first time.

While you aren't required to become certified, some MTs find it brings greater financial reward, while others report no difference at all in their financial picture. Some employers will give pay increases to those MTs who have the CMT designation while others will not. It would be worth your while to read through the material on AHDI's web site to decide if this is right for you to pursue in the future when you have the recommended experience. They suggest two years of acute care (or equivalent) experience before you are allowed to take the CMT test, so you don't need to worry about this too much right now if you are just starting out in this career. You just need to know it exists and it's something to think about for in the future if it interests you.

It's not difficult to obtain medical transcriptionist certification, but it does require experience and diligent study time so that you are well prepared. In the meantime, though, not having certification will make no difference to you being able to embark on this new career path.