Work @ Home

With several transcription companies setting up their base in India, medical transcription has become a lucrative and feasible option for those looking for home-based careers

Vatsala Bhatt, a nutritionist in a well-known health club in Bangalore, quit her job two years ago when she had a baby. Unable to move out, she started looking for a home-based career. She found the perfect option - medical transcription.

It worked out well for Vatsala, who now works for about six hours at home and makes Rs 10,000 per month or so. She also gets time to spend with her daughter.

Vatsala is one among the many who discovered the comfort of working from home and be independent. Until recently home-based medical transcription was popular only among US based home transcriptionists. Now it's slowly gaining a foothold in India. That's good news for people who are compelled to work from home, either for health or for family reasons, and also for people who are looking at a second job to supplement their income.

The system here works on two models. In some companies, which offer 'work-from-home' opportunities transcriptionists can opt to work out of home once they have reached the required level of proficiency.

What is medical transcription?

Medical transcription is the process where one accurately and swiftly transcribes medical records dictated by doctors and others, including history and physical reports, clinic notes, office notes, operative reports, consultation notes, discharge summaries, letters, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology reports.

It involves receiving dictation by tape, digital system or voice file, and using earphones, a foot pedal for start-stop control and a word processing program. It sometimes includes the use of a printer and sometimes a modem. A variety of word-processing systems are used. It requires good listening and language skills, computer skills and knowledge of medical terms.

Read this FAQ for more information

It makes a lot of sense for companies to allow employees to work from home. According to Sreekumar, programme co-ordinator of Spryance, "Greater quality control is possible with home transcriptionists." Boston based Spryance set shop in India in 2000 with the prime intention of promoting home-based transcription.

Acusis is a Pittsburgh based medical transcription company and has recently opened three offices in Bangalore, Mysore and Chennai. They offer home-based transcription work and so far have hired more than 150 home transcriptionists (mostly women) in the three cities. According to the CEO of Acusis, David Iwenski, India was selected to set up their business because of the country's high literacy rate and excellent English language skills.

Acusis has their own software called Acusuite, which allows the candidate to access an encrypted platform to download the .wav files (audio files) and then upload Word files. The software also contains dictionary and glossary of medical terms along with an error-checking module.

Companies like Spryance (Mumbai) and iQ infotech (Chennai) also work in the same way. However, they have no company-specific software. Candidates are simply given user name and password that allows them to access files from the company site. A team of in-house transcriptionists monitors the work of home-based transcriptionists to weed out possible errors.

Home transcriptionists are allowed to retain files for a maximum of six hours from the time of download. The editing starts as soon as they upload the files. It is very important to stick to deadlines. In case of sudden problems, like power failure, most companies allow the transcriptionist to work from their offices.

Says Radha Sridhar, a medical transcriptionist in Bangalore, who opted to work from home after her marriage: "I download my files at about 7 am and start work at 8.30 am after my husband leaves for work. I upload the files by 3:00 pm."

Payment

Transcriptionists who work from home are paid on the basis of speed and accuracy. The pay ranges from 60 paisa to Rs.1.25 per line depending on the accuracy.

Radha says she now earns about Rs. 20,000 a month; more than what she used to earn earlier. "When I worked from office, I used to get a monthly salary. Now I am paid per line."

Once you have honed your listening skills to hit 99-100 per cent accuracy level, you can reach the editor stage, with higher pays and less tedious work. Companies like Spryance already employ home-based editors.

According to Nasscom, medical transcription is projected as the India's fourth largest foreign exchange earners in about five years. If the figures are to be believed, medical transcription will employ more than 50,000 people by 2008. Very good news for people looking out for flexible home-based careers.

Obtain Birth Certificate

What is a Birth Certificate and Why is it Essential?

A Birth Certificate is the most important identity document that makes it possible for anyone in possession of it to benefit from a gamut of services offered by the Indian Government to its citizens. It becomes necessary to obtain a Birth Certificate because it serves to establish the date and fact of one’s birth for a whole range of purposes, like acquiring the right to vote, admission to schools and to the Government Service, claiming the right to marry at the legally permissible age, settlement of inheritance and property rights, and obtaining Government-issued identity documents like a driving licence or passport.

The Legal Framework

In India, it is mandatory under the law (as per the Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969) to register every birth/stillbirth with the concerned State/UT Government within 21 days of its occurrence. The Government accordingly has provided for a well-defined system for registration of Birth, with the Registrar General at the centre and the Chief Registrars in the States, running through district registrars to the village and town registrars at the periphery.

What You Need to Do

To apply for a Birth Certificate, you must first register the birth. The birth has to be registered with the concerned local authorities within 21 days of its occurrence, by filling up the form prescribed by the Registrar. Birth Certificate is then issued after verification with the actual records of the concerned hospital.

In case the birth has not been registered within the specified time of its occurrence, the certificate is issued after due police verification ordered by the revenue authorities.

How to tie a Tie

Different versions to tie a Tie is seen around now a days & thought to learn some of them. As we know, most of the people wish to wear a tie as part of their professional dress code & to be in social circle.

Check out these five pictorial step-by-step instructions to tie a Tie.

Method 1

Method 2


Method 3


Method 4


Method 5


One thing that you have to remember is that untie the tie after every single use. The easy thing everybody does is to simply remove the tie from the neck and hang it in a hanger or on a chair. This will damage the tie.

To untie a tie, simply reverse the above steps.


to keep the tie wrinkle free, wind the tie as shown below then keep it in a flat surface.


Dress well & be a gentle man!