Can you do medical transcription from home?

Yes, you can do medical transcription from home. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says medical transcriptionists may work from home, receiving dictation and submitting drafts electronically ¹. Home work is not a free-for-all, though. The employer or vendor must protect patient information, your home setup must meet the security rules your employer sets, and job listings that charge applicants fees are a known scam ².

The BLS recognizes home-based work as one arrangement in the field

The BLS describes the arrangement directly: the transcriptionist receives dictation and submits drafts electronically. Employers differ in where the work is done, so the question is not whether the job is possible from home, but which employers offer it and on what terms.

Our guide to medical transcription covers the job in more detail, and the question on whether medical transcription is a good career sets out the pay and outlook for remote and office roles alike.

The provider needs satisfactory assurance before you handle patient data

A home transcriptionist usually works for a company that is not part of the provider's own staff. Under HIPAA, a business associate is a person who, other than as a member of the covered entity's workforce, creates, receives, maintains or transmits protected health information ³. A provider may let a business associate handle that information only if it obtains satisfactory assurance that the business associate will appropriately safeguard the information ⁴. That assurance is usually a written business associate agreement.

Ask for the agreement before you accept work that contains patient records. A reputable employer will have one ready. If an employer cannot say whether it has one, treat that as a reason not to take the job.

Your home setup must meet your employer's security settings

The HIPAA Security Rule requires electronic systems that hold patient information to give each user a unique name or number ⁵. It also lists automatic logoff, which ends a session after a set time of inactivity, as an addressable implementation specification ⁶. The rule calls these addressable, which leaves the covered entity to decide how to meet them. In practice, your employer should tell you which settings and equipment it expects on your computer, and you should not use personal devices or accounts for patient files unless it has approved them.

Before you use any general-purpose tool with patient records, check it against the same contract rule. Our question on whether Google voice typing is HIPAA compliant covers that question for one such tool.

Scam listings are the main risk

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that if someone asks you to pay to get a job, that is a scam ². Requests for a training fee, equipment, software or a background check before you start are the pattern to watch for. A real employer pays you for work and does not charge you to be hired.

Treat a listing that skips any test, or promises a certificate in exchange for payment, as a warning sign. Check the company by searching its name together with the word "scam" or "review".

It depends on your training and the employer

What to check before you accept a remote offer

1. Confirm the data arrangement. Ask whether the company has a business associate agreement with the provider, and whether it is signed.
2. Confirm no fees. A legitimate employer does not charge you for training, software, equipment or a background check to start.
3. Ask about equipment and security. Find out which computer settings, logins and file handling rules you must follow.
4. Test the work. Ask for a sample test with real dictation, and check how the company grades it.
5. Check the company independently. Search its name and read reviews from people who have worked for it, not only the company's own page.

For whether you need a certificate, see do you need a certificate for medical transcription. The glossary entry for business associate agreements explains the contract in more detail.