Wasn’t the voice-recognition software supposed to be a threat to the medical transcriptionist’s job? When and how did it become an aid? Well, first, let’s look at why the software was considered fit for the job.

The software recognizes voice and converts it to written words. Now, that’s what transcription is all about. So, it made sense to give the software to doctors and do away with the transcriptionist. But there was a major flaw in this line of reasoning. The medical transcriptionist doesn’t just transcribe but creates medical records. The software is not equipped to create such records.

The software needs to recognize voice in order to transcribe. That requires time and effort from the doctors. The reason medical transcription came into being was that doctors didn’t have enough time, and they didn’t have the skill to document. So how are they expected to spend time in ‘training’ 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.

OK, let’s assume the software was smarter and took less time and effort. That should work, right? Not quite. 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.

Creating accurate and complete records required human intervention. And this meant the medical transcriptionist was the one editing the document created by the software. Thus, the whole point of using the software to replace the medical transcriptionist was lost. Instead, the transcriptionist started using the software as an aid to his/her work.

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.

Even if you are not into medical transcription, you must have heard about the threat of the voice-recognition software to the transcriptionist’s job. The software is capable of converting voice commands into input understandable by the computer. Isn’t that transcription? Well, yes. So, isn’t the software good enough to transcribe medical information? No. Let me explain.

The software can transcribe but it cannot transcribe the way the medical transcriptionist does. Let me take you through the differences.

First, the software requires a lot of time. 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 hands to do their own transcription work. Now, the medical transcriptionist is perfect for the job because he/she is not wasting the valuable time of doctors.

Second, the voice recognition software needs a certain environment in order to deliver proper results. The doctor needs to speak slowly and clearly in a noise-free environment so as to make the software understand his/her words. Now, the medical transcriptionist has no such expectations.

Third, the software cannot think. It cannot analyze or make conclusions of its own. On the other hand, the medical transcriptionist makes logical deductions to arrive at a conclusion to deliver a complete medical record.

Fourth, 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. And you know, this human being is none other than the medical transcriptionist.

The reason the software does not succeed is because medical transcription is not just about transcription but about creating complete and accurate medical records. The software, however, is not useless in medical transcription. Medical transcriptionists have started using it as an aid to their work.

We have said that the medical transcriptionist’s job is a noble one. And that it is an important one. Let’s analyze why.

Medical transcription is about maintaining medical records. Now, can’t doctors create and maintain them? After all, they are the ones recording information in voice. Well, doctors don’t have that kind of time. They find it easier to just record information in voice than document it in writing.

First, doctors don’t have that kind of time. Second, they are not equipped to handle documentation. Medical transcriptionists help save the doctors’ time by delivering complete medical records from the voice recordings made by doctors.

Now, let’s look at the importance of medical records. These records are extremely important for the smooth functioning of the healthcare and insurance industries. With the increasing and aging population, the need for medical records keeps increasing. Medical transcriptionists are required to handle this increased need of medical documents.

Wasn’t there some software that was supposed to transcribe and make the medical transcriptionist out of work? Yeah, well, the speech-recognition software is something that can make transcription easy. But medical records need more than mere transcription. They need someone to make sense of all the information.

The speech-recognition software failed due to many reasons. It required doctors to spend a lot of time training and using it thereby eating up their valuable time. Moreover, the results of the speech recognition software were not accurate, requiring human intervention to make edits and analyze the records. The software could not deliver complete medical records. So, is it completely useless? Not actually. The software is now being used as an aid by the medical transcriptionist.

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.