Medical Transcriptionists
Transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices, covering office visits, emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries. Transcribe dictated reports and translate abbreviations into fully understandable form. Edit as necessary and return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction.
Also called: Clinical Medical Transcriptionist · Documentation Specialist · Medical Language Specialist · Medical Scribe · Medical Transcriber · Medical Transcriptionist
Median pay (national)
$37,550
$26,370–$53,890 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
43,070
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
-4.9%
~7,400 openings/yr
Typical entry
Postsecondary nondegree award
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for medical transcriptionists shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $53,890 versus $26,370 at the bottom 10% — 2.0x. The median of $37,550 leaves roughly 44% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change -4.9% from 2024 to 2034 — a projected decline, against +3% across all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 7,400 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 51 states with released data, Minnesota pays the most for this role (median $52,190, +39% vs the national median), while North Carolina sits lowest at $27,390 — a 91% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Mathematics
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.
- Perform data entry and data retrieval services, providing data for inclusion in medical records and for transmission to physicians.
- Perform a variety of clerical and office tasks, such as handling incoming and outgoing mail, completing and submitting insurance claims, typing, filing, or operating office machines.
- Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors.
- Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.
- Identify mistakes in reports and check with doctors to obtain the correct information.
- Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.
- Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.
- Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.
- Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.
Tools & technology
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- Microsoft ASP.NET
- Microsoft Windows
- Allscripts healthcare automation software
- Boston Bar Systems Corporation Sonnet
- Bytescribe Development Company WavPlayer
- Calendar software
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Crescendo Systems Corporation MedRite-XL
- Crescendo Systems DigiScribe-XL
- Database software
- dBASE Plus
- Electronic medical record EMR systems
- Emmaus MPWord
- FileMaker Pro
- g-net solutions MTP
Knowledge areas
- English Language
- Administrative
- Computers and Electronics
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Customer and Personal Service
- Telecommunications
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics