What will the profession of medical transcription look like in 2020? I think we can tell a lot by what it looks like right now.

Today, a medical transcriptionist can receive an e-mail from a doctor, hospital, or medical specialist regarding a dictation report that is due by the end of the day. The medical transcriptionist can get her assignment and go online to see the specs of the medical document in need. After becoming familiar with the assignment, she can then start typing her medical document into a form field on the client’s website while listening to an audio recording uploaded to the site earlier that morning. When she is finished she hits “Send” and the client will be notified the job is done.

By 2020, the medical transcriptionist will be able to take dictation in real time. She’ll have pre-arranged an appointment with the client to receive dictation at a certain time on a certain day and at that appointed time she and the client will log in to their respective computers. The client will dictate while the medical transcriptionist transcribes. Afterwards, the medical transcriptionist will spend a few minutes editing her document – online, of course – then send it on to the client.

This process should cut down on the time to delivery for medical documents and the medical transcriptionist will be able to demand more income for her services.

Will voice recognition software help or hinder medical transcription into the future? Those on the fringe of the profession often claim that transcriptionists will soon be redundant because of this medical transcription technology. Trouble is, they have been claiming it since voice recognition software first came out.

The truth is, most voice recognition programs tend to be cumbersome and, for most users, a distraction from what they are trying to dictate. If you are a doctor or medical professional, there are several other drawbacks. First, you have to spend many hours teaching the software to transcribe your voice. Given some of the medical terms in use today, that can be quite some job.

There are other drawbacks. Imagine dictating a diagnosis. This requires careful thought with little distractions. For software to understand what is being dictated, you have to add commands as you dictate – even for full stops and commas. Could you provide an accurate diagnosis while also remembering to tell the software when to add a full stop or comma (or capitals etc)? This is the one big drawback to any software program and it is one that is almost impossible to fix.

On the other hand, a medical transcriptionist knows where to put commas and full stops based on the voice, the inflection and the pauses on the recording. They also use a little common sense as well and it is this human involvement that will always ensure that medical transcriptionists are in work.

Will voice recognition software replace medical transcriptionists? Perhaps one day, but at present the technology is not quite good enough. Where medical transcription technology is moving forward is in the field of quality recordings and the digital transfer of voice files. Tape recordings are out and small digital recorders are in along with computers that can transmit the recording quickly. The future is still bright for medical transcriptionists.

The voice recognition software was touted as a threat to the medical transcriptionist’s job. However, with time, the software became an aid to the transcriptionist’s work. Let us look at why the software could not do what it came for.

The voice recognition software is an application that can convert voice commands into input understandable by the computer. Thus, doctors can record information directly into it and the software will transcribe it into text. Now, that should have done away with the need for the transcriptionist. But that could not happen.

A doctor is required to spend a considerable amount of time ‘training’ the software to make it recognize his/her voice. The need for medical transcription came because doctors do not have time at their hand.

The problem with the software is that even after spending a considerable amount of time training and using it, it does not deliver accurate results. This after the doctor has made an effort speaking clearly and precisely.

The software cannot analyze or make conclusions of its own. Unlike a human being, the voice recognition software cannot make logical deductions to arrive at a conclusion to deliver a complete medical record.  The results of the voice recognition software are not accurate, requiring a human being to edit and make changes in order to deliver a complete medical record.

Now, the software works great as an aid to the transcriptionist’s work as it can prepare a first draft of the transcription. The transcriptionist can then work around this draft.

The topic is somewhat like man versus machine, but not exactly so. When the computer came into being years ago, people the world over thought that they would be out of their jobs. Soon, they realized that the machine was useless if it was not handled and used by humans.

I know some would still argue that the human dependence on machines have made people less smart and lethargic. I would argue against this. I think human beings are smart to make use of machines. Anyways, what I wanted to discuss today is the so-called threat of the voice-recognition software for medical transcriptionists.

It was believed that instead of recording dictations into any audio instrument, doctors could use the voice-recognition software to record dictations which in turn will transcribe the audio into text, creating medical records. Thus, the world would need no medical transcriptionist. Now, let me explain the flaw in this logic.

The software needs to recognize voice in order to transcribe. That requires time and effort from the doctors. And you know time was one of the factors medical transcription came into being. Doctors are busy. They cannot be expected to spend time to ‘train’ the software. Now, even if they made that initial effort, the software requires them to speak clearly, preferably in a noise-free environment in order to recognize each and every word. Thus, doctors need to spend time and effort each time they use the software. This beats the whole purpose of saving their precious time.

Even if the software took less time and effort, it wouldn’t survive. This is because the results delivered by the software are far from being accurate. And the reason for this is that it cannot ‘think’ the way humans do. Now, creating accurate and complete records required human intervention. And this meant the medical transcriptionist was the one editing the document created by the software.

You can understand that the purpose of the software failed, and people realized that it was far from being a threat to the medical transcriptionist. The transcriptionist, in fact, started using the software as an aid to his/her work.

The choice of working from home makes almost every medical transcriptionist consider it some time or the other. The benefits of home-based medical transcription are plenty but the challenges are no less. Are you equipped to cope with the expectations and pressures of practicing medical transcription from home? You don’t need wings to handle it, but you definitely need to make an effort to pull it off successfully.

Let’s look at what you’ll need to.

• You have to get yourself a dedicated office space in your house. And you have to ensure that it is not frequented by other members of your family.
• You have to get a phone dedicated to your work. You do not want your kids answering your business calls or keeping the phone busy for long.
• You have make arrangements to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This is something that many transcriptionists struggle with.
• You have to equip your home-office with everything that you need for your work – the computer, the furniture, the hardware, and the software. You have to be responsible for the smooth functioning of each of these things.
• You have to learn to stick to a routine, and keep your domestic responsibilities out of the way when you are working. Ensuring this may not be an easy task.
• You have to learn not to get distracted by comfort or anything happening around the house. The comfort of home may make you too comfortable to work.

If you think you are ready to deal with the challenges your choice may throw at you, start looking for home-based medical transcription opportunities.

The home-based medical transcriptionist needs to be disciplined, self-motivated, and extremely aware of the medical transcription industry or he/she will lose his/her standing on the ground. In today’s post, we will look at a few must-dos for the medical transcriptionist in order to boost his/her career.

Create an office space

A dedicated home office is the most important thing if you want to set up a home-based medical transcription business. You cannot start a medical transcription career from home, let alone flourish in it, if you do not have a dedicated place in your home for the medical transcription work.

Equip yourself with medical transcription-aids

If you want your productivity to beat that of your peers, you have to be equipped with all medical transcription aids possible. Get yourself a medical dictionary, a medical spell checker, and a medical transcription style guide issued by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). These aids will keep you productive and help you produce high quality medical transcription work.

Keep updating your resume

Do not let your resume become dormant. You need to keep circulating your medical transcription resume to get more opportunities. Keep updating your resume with all the medical transcription experience you are gaining.

Be HIPAA-compliant

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) specifies certain rules regarding keeping patient information confidential and secure. You should take certain measures to comply with HIPAA’s requirements. Being HIPAA-compliant will add credibility to your work.

It is important that you keep working towards improving the quality of your medical transcription work.

The voice recognition software has been a cause for concern for many a people in the medical transcription business. Is it a threat? Why do some people say that the software will eventually replace medical transcriptionists? Is this really going to happen? Today’s post strives to answer all these questions.

What is the voice recognition software?
The voice recognition software is one that can convert voice commands into input understandable by the computer. Simply put, this software makes the computer understand voice commands.

Why is it considered a threat to medical transcriptionists?
Some believe that the voice recognition software eliminates the need for transcription. They believe that the voice recordings by the doctors will be converted into medical documents instantly. Experts, however, say that the software is not really a threat but an aid for the medical transcriptionists. The following answer explains how.

Can the voice recognition software replace medical transcriptionists?
No. The voice recognition software is a great tool, but it is not equipped to solve the problems that brought about the need for medical transcription. Therefore, it cannot replace medical transcriptionists. Let us understand why.

• A doctor is required to spend a considerable amount of time ‘training’ the software to make it recognize his/her voice. The need for medical transcription came because doctors do not have time at their hand.
• Even after ‘training’, the voice recognition software has to be used properly to get results. The doctor needs to speak slowly and clearly so as to make the software understand his/her words. Once again, the software does not help doctors save any time.
• The software cannot analyze or make conclusions of its own. Unlike a human being, the voice recognition software cannot make logical deductions to arrive at a conclusion to deliver a complete medical record.
• The results of the voice recognition software are not accurate, requiring a human being to edit and make changes in order to deliver a complete medical record.

In spite of taking up a lot of time and effort, the voice recognition software does not deliver accurate results. This eradicates any possible threat to the medical transcriptionists. The software, however, can be used as an aid to the medical transcription work. A medical transcriptionist can make the voice recognition software make the first draft from the voice recordings and then go on to make edits to deliver the final record.