Medical analysis is lot more than just being a medical transcriber. A Medical Analyst has an edge over a medical transcriber. In medical transcription, a transcriber simply transcribes the voice files into word document. A medical transcriber does not analyze the transcribed documents. In other words he does not give much importance to the medical accuracy or medical relevance to the content of the voice files he transcribes. Where as, a Medical Analyst examine the files he/she has transcribed. He points out and in some cases even correct the mistakes that the physician might have made accidentally or unknowingly. A Medical Analyst requires a higher degree of concentration, better judgment capability by applying his or her knowledge in medical science and analyzes the matters dictated. As a medical transcriber or medical transcriptionist, you merely type what you hear in the dictation.
Just imagine a case where, in the beginning of a dictation, the physician has dictated 5mg of a particular drug to be given to a patient. But after sometime you hear him mistakenly saying 7mg of the same drug is to be given. Here, a medical transcriber might not notice that there has been a difference in the amount of drug the doctor has dictated. Where as, a Medical Analyst will note that and he will inform this mistake to the concerned persons.
In one case, doctor dictates in the history section that Patient comes in for a large painful tumor in the leg and in the physical exam doctor says normal extremities. Only a vigilant MA can recognize that the doctor made a mistake while dictating and be able to alert the doctor. A transcriber would simply transcribe this without analyzing what he heard.
This is just a small instance. But there can be situations where a Medical Analyst's eye and mind for details can even save the life of a patient. For example a doctor dictates a patient comes in with dizziness and low pressure and the doctor dictates he is going to reduce the Atenolol (blood pressure medication) from twice a day to once a day. Then he dictates Atenolol 50 mg three times a day. A Medical Analyst will alert the doctor and he can check what he actually wrote on the prescription for the patient. If it was wrong he could correct it before the patient collapses with further drop in his blood pressure. A transcriber would simply type what doctor dictated.
There are many similar sounding words among medical terms. For eg. Die late and Dilate, Oral and Aural, Effusion and A fusion, etc. Only a talented Medical Analyst can identify what word to use and knows what word the physician meant to say when he was dictating. This ability of a Medical Analyst in unbeatable even if a 100% accurate Speech Recognition Software comes in the market
So to become a Medical Analyst you should have an eye for details and a deterministic mind. It is a highly challenging job that depends on your intellectual ability. The world of Medical Analyst is one with constant learning and new challenges. Daily you have to deal with new medications, new procedures, new doctor-specific phrases, new accents and lot more. As a Medical Analyst you should have that fire in you to cope up with these challenges.
