Inside Medical Transcription

Deciding whether or not to take the medical transcription test, also known as the certification exam, is a matter of personal choice. In most instances you do not need to be registered or certified to obtain work as a medical transcriptionist. At least not yet.

Taking and passing a formal exam will be necessary in order for you to become either a registered medical transcriptionist (RMT), someone with less than 2 years of acute-care transcription experience, or a certified medical transcriptionist (CMT), someone with at least 2 years of acute care transcription experience.  If you do choose to obtain certification, that certification must be renewed every three years.   Recertification is accomplished by paying a fee and by earning a required number of continuing education credits during the 3-year cycle.  The number and type varies depending upon whether it is for the RMT or CMT portion of the exam.

Obtaining certification does have certain advantages. First, only someone who has passed the medical transcription exam has the right to call themselves either a registered or certified medical transcriptionist, and has the ability to put the initials RMT or CMT after their name.  There are also some companies that will require their transcriptionists be certified, or they may pay their certified transcriptionists a premium rate for having taken the exam. Passing the medical transcription test has the potential to open more doors of opportunity in your medical transcription career.

However, those benefits do come at a price.  The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers the certification exam and charges for the opportunity to do so. First you pay an application fee of $10.  For the CMT portion of the test, the cost is $195 for AHDI members and $275 for nonmembers.  The fee for the RMT portion of the test is $120 for AHDI members and $200 for nonmembers.  Then there is the recurring recertification fee as well as sometimes costs associated with continuing education.

The certification exam is divided into two parts, a written test and a transcription test.  The written part of the test is multiple choice and covers subjects such as anatomy and physiology and medical terminology as well as language-related subjects such as grammar, punctuation and sentence structure and composition. The practical portion of the test requires transcription of actual medical dictation.

Each applicant is allowed 6 hours to complete the entire test,  although it should not take the entire 6 hours.  The test covers all areas of the field, and many transcriptionists choose to take a formal prep or review course and/or purchase a review guide to prepare themselves for taking the test. Taking the review course and purchasing the guide requires an additional fee which increases the overall cost of the medical transcription exam.

Though passing the medical transcription certification test comes with certain benefits, it is certainly not necessary to succeed as a medical transcriptionist. There are many highly paid and experienced medical transcriptionists who are not certified.

However, if you have the time and the money to spare, taking the medical transcription test could be a wise move. By doing so you will have proof of your skill and knowledge as a medical transcriptionist.  Passing the medical transcription certification exam will definitely be a great personal achievement and help you advance your career.