The medical transcription and healthcare documentation industry has been in existence for quite some time, successfully serving the needs of medical service providers. There is much debate about the future of the industry. However, despite the many challenges it faces, the medical transcription and documentation sector has a definitive role ahead. Here’s why:
- Employment Options – According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are good employment opportunities for certified medical transcriptionists, with job prospects expected to grow by 11 percent through 2018. The Department of Labor says that the demand for more health documentation professionals is due to the rising number of baby boomers reaching retirement age.
- EMRs – All healthcare facilities and practices are required to have Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in place by 2014, according to health reform. This will not impact medical transcription companies negatively as most offer documentation systems that integrate with EMR. In fact, industry experts believe that the EMR system could result in support roles for medical transcriptionists.
- Advantages of outsourcing medical transcription – U.S. based medical transcription companies outsource medical transcription to Asian countries such as India and Philippines due to many advantages such as availability of skilled medical transcriptionists, reduced labor cost, quick turnaround time, and competitive pricing. These advantages will continue to be experienced in the future too.
- Adapting to change – Medical transcription companies and teams of skilled transcriptionists are adapting to the changing technological landscape. Medical transcription will survive even with the advent of speech recognition software. The documents produced by this software are far from perfect and physicians need the help of medical transcriptionists to review, proofread and edit them. By taking on these new tasks, these skilled professionals can ensure the survival of the medical transcription industry.
