There are many different types and descriptions of jobs in the medical field
The ones that obviously come to mind are Doctor, Nurse, Physiotherapists
But there are other roles that are important in the care of a patient. And the possibilities and potential of a care in any of these other roles is enormous.
In this post we will go over the job descriptions of roles in the medical field that are predominantly non clinical
By non clinical we refer to jobs that do not directly involve patient contact on a treatment administering basis
Medical Coding
We went over this in great detail in an earlier post but to summarize medical coding is the process of assigning unique codes to medical procedures and investigations. This essentially is for the purposes of issuing the right bill for insurance and government bodies. Medical coding in some countries is often referred to as insurance coding
Click on Medical coding continuing education for more information
Medical Transcription or Medical Secretaries
The treatment of any patient often involves several different bodies. For example a patient who has a family physician comes in to see the cardiologist for chest pain and is then referred on to the cardiac surgeon for a set of bypass grafts. Information needs, in this scenario to be shared between the family physician, cardiologist, cardiac surgeon and insurance company. The secretary is responsible for typing and disseminating the relevant letters. The secretary is also key in coordinating clinic appointments, operating lists and is often a point of contact for the patient
More information at a career in Medical Transcription
Medical Informatics
A rapidly growing and very lucrative aspect of medical career. Medical informatics involves the development of software for the collation and dissemination of patient information while paying attention to the needs of patient confidentiality.
It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine.
Medical Assistantship or Medical Clerks
Medical assistants serve and fulfill different administrative and clerical roles needed in different health care facilities. The job of the medical assistant is to take care of the details like bookkeeping, filling out and managing patient charts and files and arranging appointments
People skills is an essential qualification for medical clerks as they have frequent and close contact with patients, albeit in a non clinical role
Health care assistants or Auxiliary nurses
These are different to the above because their role is primarily clinical. They are non qualified staff that help the nursing staff with the more routine tasks e.g changing dressings, measuring blood pressure and helping patients with baths
Sunday 7 December 2008
Thursday 18 September 2008
Building the Foundations of Your Career in Medical College
If you thought medical college was where you go to get trained to be a doctor YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Doctors are trained in medical schools not medical colleges
So what is a medical college and why should you be interestes in going to medical college
The process of looking after a patient involves a lot of very visible [e.g doctors nurses, physiotherapists] and some not so visible [e.g secretaries, transciption, pharmacy clerks, administartive staff, acupuncture] individuals, contributing to patient care with their individual skills. These skills offer a fast growing and promising career choice that could give you as an individual a sense of job satisfaction and an extra income.
Medical college is where you would go to build the foundations of your career in medical care.
As a result of an aging population and a technologically advanced society, the demand for excellent healthcare services and procedures is increasing and experts say that this trend will continue for several years to come. With this trend comes the proportional increase in opportunities for employment in the medical field.
Students fresh out of high school and individuals with careers outside the medical path can now rightly contemplate the possibility of investing time and resources in medical college to be able to acquire the proper credentials to enable themselves to be qualified for careers in the medical field.
To get into popular medical field careers such as those as medical encoders, medical billings, medical assistants, lab technicians, pharmacy assistants and medical supply sales specialists, one needs to undergo proper training and pass the examination for certification. Many of the most promising employment opportunities will require certified individuals to prove their competency and credentials for the job.
Since this is the case, be sure to check whether the medical college that you plan to go to for training offers certification courses or check if they can at least properly train you for certification.
Otherwise, your time and effort will not be a very efficient choice after all. You can check out the different medical colleges in your area through their websites.
Make sure to explore the websites of each medical college in your area and understand the different programs they offer as well as the different reputations each college has.
A reputable school will look better in your credentials.
A career in the medical field will be challenging but proportional to the amount of challenge are the benefits and satisfaction of securing a job in this career.
For instance, the training and certification for being a medical coder will not only land a job as a medical encoder in the different types of healthcare and medical facilities such as medical clinics, hospitals and outpatient facilities. But one can also decide to own their own medical coder business and earn more money by servicing different clientele through a successfully managed outfit.
This option will not only secure one’s financial needs but will also allow one to choose and manage their own time and schedules. That’s certainly more than you can ever hope for in some other line of business or career.
Good opportunities abound for the medical coder. The same is true for almost all other types of career in the medical field. For instance, medical assistants can opt to take continuing education into the field of nursing. Once a medical assistant graduates into a career in nursing the pay and incentives are considerably higher for them.
This is why the money and effort into medical college is time and money well spent. Not many other career options can offer the same privileges and guarantees. This is why if you want to take advantage of this opportunity, you better be on the look out for a good medical college to apply for.
Even if you already have a job and cannot afford to take the time off to go fulltime in building a career in medical college, don’t despair. Most if not all medical colleges offer courses during flexible times to allow individuals to take continuing education without having to quit their day jobs.
So what is a medical college and why should you be interestes in going to medical college
The process of looking after a patient involves a lot of very visible [e.g doctors nurses, physiotherapists] and some not so visible [e.g secretaries, transciption, pharmacy clerks, administartive staff, acupuncture] individuals, contributing to patient care with their individual skills. These skills offer a fast growing and promising career choice that could give you as an individual a sense of job satisfaction and an extra income.
Medical college is where you would go to build the foundations of your career in medical care.
As a result of an aging population and a technologically advanced society, the demand for excellent healthcare services and procedures is increasing and experts say that this trend will continue for several years to come. With this trend comes the proportional increase in opportunities for employment in the medical field.
Students fresh out of high school and individuals with careers outside the medical path can now rightly contemplate the possibility of investing time and resources in medical college to be able to acquire the proper credentials to enable themselves to be qualified for careers in the medical field.
To get into popular medical field careers such as those as medical encoders, medical billings, medical assistants, lab technicians, pharmacy assistants and medical supply sales specialists, one needs to undergo proper training and pass the examination for certification. Many of the most promising employment opportunities will require certified individuals to prove their competency and credentials for the job.
Since this is the case, be sure to check whether the medical college that you plan to go to for training offers certification courses or check if they can at least properly train you for certification.
Otherwise, your time and effort will not be a very efficient choice after all. You can check out the different medical colleges in your area through their websites.
Make sure to explore the websites of each medical college in your area and understand the different programs they offer as well as the different reputations each college has.
A reputable school will look better in your credentials.
A career in the medical field will be challenging but proportional to the amount of challenge are the benefits and satisfaction of securing a job in this career.
For instance, the training and certification for being a medical coder will not only land a job as a medical encoder in the different types of healthcare and medical facilities such as medical clinics, hospitals and outpatient facilities. But one can also decide to own their own medical coder business and earn more money by servicing different clientele through a successfully managed outfit.
This option will not only secure one’s financial needs but will also allow one to choose and manage their own time and schedules. That’s certainly more than you can ever hope for in some other line of business or career.
Good opportunities abound for the medical coder. The same is true for almost all other types of career in the medical field. For instance, medical assistants can opt to take continuing education into the field of nursing. Once a medical assistant graduates into a career in nursing the pay and incentives are considerably higher for them.
This is why the money and effort into medical college is time and money well spent. Not many other career options can offer the same privileges and guarantees. This is why if you want to take advantage of this opportunity, you better be on the look out for a good medical college to apply for.
Even if you already have a job and cannot afford to take the time off to go fulltime in building a career in medical college, don’t despair. Most if not all medical colleges offer courses during flexible times to allow individuals to take continuing education without having to quit their day jobs.
Sunday 14 September 2008
Medical Coding, Is Continuing Education Needed For A Career
A career in medical coding is ideal for a lot of people because it is a lucrative way to make a living that does not come with the usual stresses of a regular 9-5 job.
In fact, on the contrary, choosing a medical coding career is choosing to make a living with flexible time and work from home benefits.
The question remains though: is continuing education needed for a career in medical coding?
The simple answer to this is yes.
Medical coding as a career comes with a new set of terminology and medical nuances that some training is required.
It is important to realize that medical coding relates very strongly to the practice of medicine and this is an ever changing and evolving field. As new innovations come onto the medical scene, both medical and surgical, set up coding parameters will have to change to accomodate these changes
In order to put yourself at the forefront of your new career and improve your chances of career advancement, it is important to involve yourself in continuing education
You need to be able to understand and learn all there is to learn about medical coding. This is because you as the medical encoder are in charge of assigning specific codes to different medical services and procedures to enable healthcare providers to be able to bill for services rendered.
It is for the purpose of ensuring that patients are appropriately billed that medical coders are in demand in the industry.
If your strong points are organization and you enjoy administrative work, learning medical coding will be easy for you. There are specialized courses and trainings available for individuals who want to learn the special ways used in medical coding.
You will need to get some background knowledge on this field and predetermine where it is you plan to go with your career i.e how do you want your career to pan out.
It is with this knowledge that you will be better able to determine which edical coding training program best suites your purposes. You must realize that not all the courses available are tailored to meet your individual needs so you will need to do a little research to find which medical coding course best suits your purpose.
Having said this, all accredited medical coding courses will give you the basics that you need to get a start in this field and make available to you the knowledge you need to pass the necessary examinations to obtain your certificates.
Making the effort to go the extra mile and invest in continuing education pays dividends in the development of your medical coding career.
And there really is a large demand and wide scope for medical coders.
Hospitals, clinics, polyclinics, general practitoners offices and private practice physicians all have requirement for medical coding to ensure appropriate bills are issued for individual procedures
We suggest you aim to obtain certification with bodies that are recognized nationally so if you are in the united states, the American Academy of Professional Coders yshould be your objective. They offer different levels of certification based on the examinations passed.
Obtaining certification from the more recognized national bodies increases your chances of getting the medical coding placement of your choice.
If you are serious about a career in medical coding, it is better to take the examinations and acquire these certifications.
Once you have obtained your basic certification and gained some experience on the job, shop around for other courses you can take to further enhance your career
The American Academy of Professional Coders offers Specialty Credentials that will enable an individual to prove their expertise within their present focus or they can even use this to jump start their medical coding career into a different type of specialization altogether.
Obviously the ultimate objective is to gain enough experience and profile to open a medical coding business of your own
In fact, on the contrary, choosing a medical coding career is choosing to make a living with flexible time and work from home benefits.
The question remains though: is continuing education needed for a career in medical coding?
The simple answer to this is yes.
Medical coding as a career comes with a new set of terminology and medical nuances that some training is required.
It is important to realize that medical coding relates very strongly to the practice of medicine and this is an ever changing and evolving field. As new innovations come onto the medical scene, both medical and surgical, set up coding parameters will have to change to accomodate these changes
In order to put yourself at the forefront of your new career and improve your chances of career advancement, it is important to involve yourself in continuing education
You need to be able to understand and learn all there is to learn about medical coding. This is because you as the medical encoder are in charge of assigning specific codes to different medical services and procedures to enable healthcare providers to be able to bill for services rendered.
It is for the purpose of ensuring that patients are appropriately billed that medical coders are in demand in the industry.
If your strong points are organization and you enjoy administrative work, learning medical coding will be easy for you. There are specialized courses and trainings available for individuals who want to learn the special ways used in medical coding.
You will need to get some background knowledge on this field and predetermine where it is you plan to go with your career i.e how do you want your career to pan out.
It is with this knowledge that you will be better able to determine which edical coding training program best suites your purposes. You must realize that not all the courses available are tailored to meet your individual needs so you will need to do a little research to find which medical coding course best suits your purpose.
Having said this, all accredited medical coding courses will give you the basics that you need to get a start in this field and make available to you the knowledge you need to pass the necessary examinations to obtain your certificates.
Making the effort to go the extra mile and invest in continuing education pays dividends in the development of your medical coding career.
And there really is a large demand and wide scope for medical coders.
Hospitals, clinics, polyclinics, general practitoners offices and private practice physicians all have requirement for medical coding to ensure appropriate bills are issued for individual procedures
We suggest you aim to obtain certification with bodies that are recognized nationally so if you are in the united states, the American Academy of Professional Coders yshould be your objective. They offer different levels of certification based on the examinations passed.
Obtaining certification from the more recognized national bodies increases your chances of getting the medical coding placement of your choice.
If you are serious about a career in medical coding, it is better to take the examinations and acquire these certifications.
Once you have obtained your basic certification and gained some experience on the job, shop around for other courses you can take to further enhance your career
The American Academy of Professional Coders offers Specialty Credentials that will enable an individual to prove their expertise within their present focus or they can even use this to jump start their medical coding career into a different type of specialization altogether.
Obviously the ultimate objective is to gain enough experience and profile to open a medical coding business of your own
Monday 8 September 2008
A Career In Medical Transcription
Medical transcription has been in use since the 1950’s.
This is used to keep records of patients and since the doctor cannot do it themselves, this is where people like you who have the training can come in to help them and at the same time make some money.
There are a lot of medical transcription companies that offer their services to clinics, healthcare facilities, hospitals, the individual sector, laboratories and physician groups. Given the strong demand, you can even get into it yourself with the proper training and the equipment needed for this to work.
To qualify, you have to enroll in an institution that follows the syllabus designed by the American Association of Medical Transcription or AAMT. This is available in vocational schools and colleges. Those who don’t have time to go to school may also find a program online so they can learn at their own convenience.
The important thing for you to learn are the medical terminologies often used by doctors so you will be able to transcribed the patient’s autopsy reports, clinical notes, consultation notes, discharge summaries, laboratory repots, psychiatric evaluations, operation reports, X-rays as well as referral letters.
Once given the job, you have to make sure that these are all error free otherwise; the doctor will decide to cancel your service and find someone else who can do a better job.
Just to give you an idea, some medical transcription services have been outsourced abroad because of cheaper labor costs. Two countries that have been doing quite well in this endeavor include India and the Philippines as majority of the people who come from there speak English quite well.
Some of the services that have been offered to them include cardiology transcription, chiropractic transcription, emergency room transcription, gastroenterology transcription, general Surgery transcription, internal Medicine transcription, maxillofacial surgery transcription, physical medicine transcription, plastic surgery transcription, radiology transcription and surgery transcription.
What kind of equipment is needed in order to have a medical transcription business?
Most MT companies would require a toll free number, digital recorders, computer dictation systems, computers and a server.
They have to make sure that the line of communication is secure and that it is hack proof so information about the patient does not fall into the wrong hands given the rising number of incidents relating to identity theft. This is achieved or course using hardware that is HIPAA compliant secured with 256 bit AES encryption.
What kind of career do you expect with medical transcription?
For those who are starting out on their own, they can make money if they are able to keep a client with error free documentation and submit this back on time.
If they are no longer able to handle the load themselves, they can train other people to do it or hire people who have passed through the same training and then hire these individuals to work for them.
In short, you are able to start up your own medical transcription company.
Will medical transcription still be around for the foreseeable future?
Many experts say yes because although there are already computer software programs that have been built and used by doctors to encode the data of the patient themselves, there are still issues that they have to deal with before medical transcription which has been around for more than 50 years will be phased out.
This is used to keep records of patients and since the doctor cannot do it themselves, this is where people like you who have the training can come in to help them and at the same time make some money.
There are a lot of medical transcription companies that offer their services to clinics, healthcare facilities, hospitals, the individual sector, laboratories and physician groups. Given the strong demand, you can even get into it yourself with the proper training and the equipment needed for this to work.
To qualify, you have to enroll in an institution that follows the syllabus designed by the American Association of Medical Transcription or AAMT. This is available in vocational schools and colleges. Those who don’t have time to go to school may also find a program online so they can learn at their own convenience.
The important thing for you to learn are the medical terminologies often used by doctors so you will be able to transcribed the patient’s autopsy reports, clinical notes, consultation notes, discharge summaries, laboratory repots, psychiatric evaluations, operation reports, X-rays as well as referral letters.
Once given the job, you have to make sure that these are all error free otherwise; the doctor will decide to cancel your service and find someone else who can do a better job.
Just to give you an idea, some medical transcription services have been outsourced abroad because of cheaper labor costs. Two countries that have been doing quite well in this endeavor include India and the Philippines as majority of the people who come from there speak English quite well.
Some of the services that have been offered to them include cardiology transcription, chiropractic transcription, emergency room transcription, gastroenterology transcription, general Surgery transcription, internal Medicine transcription, maxillofacial surgery transcription, physical medicine transcription, plastic surgery transcription, radiology transcription and surgery transcription.
What kind of equipment is needed in order to have a medical transcription business?
Most MT companies would require a toll free number, digital recorders, computer dictation systems, computers and a server.
They have to make sure that the line of communication is secure and that it is hack proof so information about the patient does not fall into the wrong hands given the rising number of incidents relating to identity theft. This is achieved or course using hardware that is HIPAA compliant secured with 256 bit AES encryption.
What kind of career do you expect with medical transcription?
For those who are starting out on their own, they can make money if they are able to keep a client with error free documentation and submit this back on time.
If they are no longer able to handle the load themselves, they can train other people to do it or hire people who have passed through the same training and then hire these individuals to work for them.
In short, you are able to start up your own medical transcription company.
Will medical transcription still be around for the foreseeable future?
Many experts say yes because although there are already computer software programs that have been built and used by doctors to encode the data of the patient themselves, there are still issues that they have to deal with before medical transcription which has been around for more than 50 years will be phased out.
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