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The area of medical transcription is growing and lot of individuals are taking it up as a means of make money while at the same time working from home. Creating a home workplace for medical transcription involves purchasing a customary list of items. Some items that instantly come to mind are word processing software, a way of playing audio files that can be controlled with a foot pedal, fax machine and head phones.

The area of medical transcription is growing and lot of individuals are taking it up as a means of make money while at the same time working from home. Creating a home workplace for medical transcription involves purchasing a customary list of items. Some items that instantly come to mind are word processing software, a way of playing audio files that can be controlled with a foot pedal, fax machine and head phones.

One item that is absent from most peoples list is an overlay keyboard. With an overlay keyboard every key can be configured to recreate any sequence of characters and control functions available on a standard keyboard. A colored stencil can be created that labels what string each key produces to aide in locating the correct key.

The typist can assign repeated and/or complex words and phrases to different keys. When the transcriptionist pushes a key the word or phrase is placed into their document instantly and accurately every time. Each key recalls the correct spelling of its phrase and reproduces it each time!

Another benefit of an overlay keyboard is that unwieldy word processor short cuts can be assigned to overlay keys. Commonly used finger twisting short cuts can be assigned to a key. Short cuts like Ctrl+Shift+W to underline words in Word are reduced to a single visibly labeled key press. This allows the mind up to focus on typing data not program short cuts.

When an overlay keyboard is employed in conjunction with AutoHotKey keys can be reassigned quickly. Simply reload AutoHotKey with new key assignments and change the template and the transcriptionist is set to use a different set of words or phrases. This can be particularly handy when transcribing for different specialties with different terms.

In summary the advantages of an overlay keyboard include:

1 Reduced spelling mistakes

2 Quicker access to short cuts

3 Simple to modify for different medical specialties

4 Documents are completed quicker

5 Less physical and mental fatigue