What is a Medical Transcription Supervisor?

A medical transcription supervisor is in charge of a team of staff that does doctor dictation work. Doctor dictation is also known as medical transcription. Medical transcriptionists type information from doctors' notes and patient records into official reports. A medical transcription supervisor makes sure the dictation team is producing accurate, quality work for the doctor's office or hospital.

Meeting deadlines for the work is also the responsibility of a medical transcription supervisor. The supervisor understands all aspects of doctor dictation including anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. In order to reach a supervisory position, a few years of medical transcriptionist experience is usually required. A medical transcription supervisor typically reports to a manager who has previously worked in a supervisory capacity in the field.

Making sure the manager's work objectives get accomplished is the main responsibility of the supervisor. The medical transcription supervisor must make sure the work is error-free without punctuation, grammar or spelling mistakes. Transcription supervisors set production standards for their staff. The supervisor must also provide an efficient working environment that includes proper reference books. Sometimes, medical transcriptionists need to refer to anatomy or other textbooks when completing their typed materials.

Training staff is a regular task of many medical transcription supervisors. They also usually hire employees and may administer transcription tests as part of the job application process. The medical transcription supervisor may receive work from the manager or doctor, then distribute it to the staff. Strong communication skills are needed by medical transcription supervisors as they must often work with doctors, managers and transcriptionists at different experience levels. A transcription supervisor may act as an advocate for other transcriptionists in terms of obtaining good pay from hospitals and doctors' offices.

Although many medical transcription supervisors work with their staff in a doctor's office or hospital, some operate on a virtual basis. They work from their home offices while supervising home-based medical transcriptionists. This type of medical transcription supervisor may own an agency, perhaps with a manager partner. Many medical transcriptionists who are hired by online transcription companies have at least some experience working in a hospital, clinic or doctor's office before being selected to work from home.

A medical transcription supervisor typically enjoys working with people as well as with medical information such as patient charts. She understands patient confidentiality and should have an extremely professional attitude. Many medical transcriptionists had a background in office administration before deciding to specialize in doctor dictation. A medical transcriptionist supervisor usually has at least one year of experience taking doctor dictation.