Medical Transcriptionists
Health ScienceO*NET 31-9094.00United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $39,292
- Projected change
- −0.1%
- Typical education
- Certificate
- Employment
- 47.37K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
38.9% of the workforce
Growing to 47.33K by 2035
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The work
What medical transcriptionists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.
- 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.
- Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.
- Perform data entry and data retrieval services, providing data for inclusion in medical records and for transmission to physicians.
- Take dictation using shorthand, a stenotype machine, or headsets and transcribing machines.
- 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.
- Decide which information should be included or excluded in reports.
- Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $26,599
- 25th percentile
- $32,537
- 50th percentile
- $39,292
- 75th percentile
- $48,239
- 90th percentile
- $60,208
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $39,292 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
−0.1%projected to decline
202547,366 jobs
2035 projected47,332 jobs
34 fewer positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Certificate
- 38.9%
- Some college
- 33.7%
- High school diploma or less
- 16.7%
- Associate degree
- 10.7%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Medical Scribes3,743 postings
- 02Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants605 postings
- 03Medical Assistant Scribes550 postings
- 04Medical Assistants/Medical Scribes297 postings
- 05Medical Transcriptionists198 postings
- 06Clinical Scribes194 postings
- 07Scribes189 postings
- 08Medical Records Clerks106 postings
- 09Emergency Medical Scribes99 postings
- 10Transcriptionists87 postings
- 11Ophthalmology Scribes81 postings
- 12Medical Scribe Trainers73 postings
- 13Ophthalmic Scribes56 postings
- 14Emergency Department Medical Scribes51 postings
- 15Certified Medical Assistants Scribe49 postings
- 16Unit Clerks38 postings
- 17Bilingual Spanish Customer Service Representatives30 postings
- 18Documentation Clerks30 postings
- 19Quality Reviewers30 postings
- 20Ophthalmic Technicians/Scribes23 postings
Top employers
- 01Mrg Exams592 postings
- 02Oak Street Health541 postings
- 03ScribeAmerica422 postings
- 04CVS Health394 postings
- 05Summit Health Management170 postings
- 06CityMD150 postings
- 07ProScribe115 postings
- 08TriWest Healthcare Alliance59 postings
- 09Vituity51 postings
- 10Scribe.Ology, Llc.50 postings
- 11EyeCare Partners41 postings
- 12University of California36 postings
- 13Actalent28 postings
- 14Envision Physician Services28 postings
- 15Mercy Medical Center28 postings
- 16Advocate Aurora Health25 postings
- 17Children's Health Orange County25 postings
- 18CompHealth24 postings
- 19RWJBarnabas Health24 postings
- 20Summit Health24 postings
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