Dictate instead of typing: a medical typist turns your dictations into finished doctor's letters, findings reports and expert reports – with confident command of medical terminology and in confidence. In this guide, you will learn which tasks a medical typist takes on, which qualifications are behind it, what it costs and when an external solution is worthwhile for practices and hospitals.
What does a medical typist do?
A medical typist puts spoken medical content into writing and brings it into the right form. They listen to the dictation of a doctor or medical assessor and type it up into a cleanly formatted document – correct in terms of specialist terminology, abbreviations and structure. Unlike a general typist, they know medical usage and the typical structure of doctor's letters and expert reports.
- Doctor's letters and discharge reports
- Findings reports (radiology, pathology, laboratory)
- Medical expert reports – psychosomatic, guardianship, expert witnesses
- Surgical reports and progress documentation
- Medical histories and admission dictations
What qualifications does a medical typist need?
What matters is a confident command of medical terminology: Latin and Greek technical terms, common abbreviations, drug names and the ICD classification. Many medical typists have a background as a doctor's assistant, medical assistant (MFA) or in documentation. Just as important are care, discretion and a feel for the formal structure of each type of document.
How much does a medical typist cost?
With an external medical typist, you only pay for the work actually performed – usually billed per audio minute or per line, without fixed costs for staff, holidays or sick leave. The price depends on the length of the dictation, sound quality and complexity. With us, you receive a quote in advance – with no hidden costs. Our guide How much does transcription cost? explains how transcription prices are generally made up.
In-house staff or an external medical typing office?
- Fluctuating volume: an external medical typing office absorbs peaks without staff sitting idle.
- No downtime: holidays or illness of your own staff do not bring documentation to a standstill.
- Fast delivery: usually within 24 hours.
- Predictable costs: you pay per order instead of a fixed salary plus additional costs.
How secure is patient data when outsourcing?
Patient data is among the specially protected categories of data under Art. 9 GDPR. You should therefore make sure that your typing office treats every dictation as strictly confidential and explains to you where and how your data is processed. This way, medical confidentiality is maintained.