Medical language specialist vs medical transcriptionist

The differences between medical language specialists and medical transcriptionists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medical language specialist has an average salary of $47,117, which is higher than the $38,725 average annual salary of a medical transcriptionist.

The top three skills for a medical language specialist include transcription, discharge summaries and dictation. The most important skills for a medical transcriptionist are transcription, dictation, and discharge summaries.

Medical language specialist vs medical transcriptionist overview

	Medical Language Specialist	Medical Transcriptionist
Yearly salary	$47,117	$38,725
Hourly rate	$22.65	$18.62
Growth rate	11%	-7%
Number of jobs	71,209	78,292
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	45	41
Years of experience	12	-

What does a medical language specialist do?

A Medical Language Specialist transcribes medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners. They listen to recorded dictations of medical professionals and turn them into diagnostic test results, articles, and other documents.

What does a medical transcriptionist do?

A Medical Transcriptionist is responsible for accurately transcribing audio records from Physicians and other health workers as part of a patient's medical history or other necessary documentation. Most of the time, a Medical Transcriptionist must sign non-disclosure agreements as the majority of the information relayed are personal and confidential. Furthermore, they must be meticulous in detecting inconsistencies and errors, translating or converting the information gathered into various medical documents, performing edits and revision, and following up any missing detail.

Medical language specialist vs medical transcriptionist salary

Medical language specialists and medical transcriptionists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Language Specialist	Medical Transcriptionist
Average salary	$47,117	$38,725
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $61,000	Between $31,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	-	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	White Plains Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between medical language specialist and medical transcriptionist education

There are a few differences between a medical language specialist and a medical transcriptionist in terms of educational background:

	Medical Language Specialist	Medical Transcriptionist
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Health Care Administration
Most common college	Duke University	-

Medical language specialist vs medical transcriptionist demographics

Here are the differences between medical language specialists' and medical transcriptionists' demographics:

	Medical Language Specialist	Medical Transcriptionist
Average age	45	41
Gender ratio	Male, 7.3% Female, 92.7%	Male, 6.3% Female, 93.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.9% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between medical language specialist and medical transcriptionist duties and responsibilities

Medical language specialist example responsibilities.

Prepare budget and manage department's employees' time, attendance and payroll process.
Create documentation education classes to general surgery residents, increasing the leveling of reporting which lead to increase revenues.
Transcribe and edit for specialties including: cardiology, pulmonology, urology, pediatrics, psychiatry, oncology, etc.
Utilize extensive knowledge of medical terminology while following AAMT and HIPAA guidelines.
Type medical transcription from all medical specialties, combine with comprehensive self-pace dictation system.
Utilize voice-record dictation to transcribe and edit medical reports for several acute care hospitals.

Medical transcriptionist example responsibilities.

Manage audits using transcribe reports with preoperative and postoperative documentation within the EMR.
Experience in radiology, cardiology, orthopedics, physical therapy, pediatrics, surgery and family practice medical terminology.
Transcribe dictation from various specialty providers at the hospital including orthopedics, urology, podiatry, ophthalmology, and pain management.
Transcribe radiology reports, including MRIs, CTs, nuclear medicine and vascular reports in a high-production, acute care setting.
Maintain medical record integrity by interpreting, editing and transcribing dictation for multiple physicians and nurse practitioners.
Prepare medical documentation from dictation - specializing in the areas of general surgery, orthopedics, plastic/oral surgery

Medical language specialist vs medical transcriptionist skills

Common medical language specialist skills

Transcription, 11%
Discharge Summaries, 8%
Dictation, 8%
Patient Histories, 5%
Medical Reports, 5%
Acute Care Hospital, 5%

Common medical transcriptionist skills

Transcription, 16%
Dictation, 10%
Discharge Summaries, 8%
Patient Histories, 5%
Medical Reports, 5%
Patient Care, 3%

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Medical Language Specialist
Medical Language Specialist vs Medical Transcriptionist

Updated January 8, 2025

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