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Your transcriber or computer equipment allows you to make a living from doing your medical transcription work. Give it the care and attention it deserves so that your equipment serves you for a long time. Clean your equipment regularly and service your equipment according to your manual's guidelines, but not less than once a year. If you use your computer to do your transcription work, perform all recommended computer updates as they occur so that your machine runs optimally.
Because you will be sitting in one position for many hours every day, find an ergonomic chair. It also pays to buy an ergonomic mouse and keyboard for maximum comfort for your hands and wrists.
Treat your medical transcription job seriously, especially if you do this work from home. Maintain a quiet environment so that you hear the tapes clearly and transcribe them correctly. Do not try to work with the dog barking furiously or the children darting in and out of your office. Keep your office and desk clean, uncluttered and quiet. -
If you do not understand the words on the tape, try raising or lowering the volume of the recording. Another trick is to try adjusting the tone or the bass of the recording. Use your slow-down or speed-up buttons to adjust the speed of the tape.
No matter what, do not guess what the person is saying on the recording. Leave a blank with a note pointing out that part of the recording was illegible. - Learn to use keyboard shortcuts instead of your mouse. Every time you lift your fingers from the keyboard, you lose a few seconds. Losing time affects your bottom line efficiency, and you will not earn as much money. (See the resources section for shortcuts help.)
- It is very easy to make the mistake of using like-sounding words or homonyms. Always have a dictionary, thesaurus and your medical reference books available whenever you work on your medical transcription.
