BOT 2523: What Is The Future Of Medical Transcription?

BOT 2523 – Medical Transcription
June 6, 2014
What is the Future of Medical Transcription? We never know what the future may hold; that can be a very unsettling fact no matter what topic is being discussed. Not knowing what the future holds for one’s chosen profession is even more unsettling. Although some healthcare professionals believe that medical transcriptionists will soon be obsolete, the outlook for the medical transcription industry is not altogether bleak. Technology is constantly evolving, allowing for more efficient flow of data in the vast world of healthcare. The implementation of the Electronic Health Record is a prime example. By storing records electronically on a secure server, information will be more easily accessed than they would be on paper files. One theory is that the EHR (or EMR) will replace the need for medical transcriptionists. This theory does not carry much weight due to the fact that medical
transcriptionists will still be needed to transcribe the reports that go into the EHR. It is important, however, for transcriptionists to keep current with any new formatting and style updates to make the EHR system serve the purpose it is meant to serve. Another speculation is that transcription services are being outsourced to other countries, which would decrease the need for medical transcriptionists in the United States. This is yet another false perception. According to the US Department of Labor there is a serious shortage of medical transcriptionists. They took steps to correct this problem by making medical transcription an apprenticeable profession. The only plausible threat to the medical transcription industry is the increased use of voice recognition (or speech recognition) software.
It is easy to see how the technology (such as that used in “talk-to-text”) would be very convenient in the transcription world. However, even this technology has some drawbacks. Voice recognition cannot be solely relied upon to produce accurate reports. Some healthcare professionals have made the change to voice recognition software, using the medical transcriptionist to edit or proofread the report. In numerous cases, the physician realized the amount of errors made by the voice recognition software was decreasing efficiency and thus reverted to using the traditional medical transcriptionist. Until this software is proven to be 100% accurate, it should not have a major effect on the need for transcriptionists. After all, errors in medical reports can lead not only to lost time, lost profits, and an increase in litigation, but more importantly to poor decision making in patient
care. The fact remains that human medical transcriptionists are and will always be a very valuable asset in the healthcare industry. The field is still projected to expand rapidly in the near future, as medical transcriptionists possess a very important combination of skills and knowledge. In 2008, there were an estimated 105,000 employed medical transcriptionists, this number is expected to grow to 116,000 by 2018 along with the growth of the healthcare industry as a whole due to the growing aging population. As with any profession, it is important that medical transcriptionists devote time and effort to continuing education whenever possible. Cross training, taking courses, or improving coding and abstracting skills could provide additional job security if there does happen to be a decrease in the need for medical transcriptionists.
Works Cited
“Outlook for Medical Transcriptionists” Medical Transcription Training 101- the complete guide to becoming a medical transcriptionist. 2011. Web. 5 June 2014.
“Will Electronic Medical Records or Voice Recognition change Medical Transcription?” MT at Home. 2010. Web. 5 June 2014.
“Report: State of the Medical Transcription Industry” Career Step Online Education & Training Solutions. 2013. Web. 5 June 2014.