subject: The Future of Medical Transcription [print this page] The Future of Medical Transcription The Future of Medical Transcription
Medical transcription, as a profession and an industry, has changed over time. The population explosion in the 21st century has caused an increase in the number of medical reports for transcription and documentation. This has led to an increased demand for medical transcriptionists in hospitals and medical centers.
Basically, medical histories of patients are created by converting diagnosis and treatment forms from voice-recorded format to digitized text documents. These are encoded by medical transcriptionists; information technicians organize medical reports in the database archive. The database archive provides access to doctors and medical professionals through computer networks connected in the archive system, effectively replacing entire rooms of folders and paper with a single computer database that provides easy access
Significant increase in the number of medical reports has led to the growth of the medical transcription industry. Medical transcription is now a billion-dollar industry with an annual record growth of 15 percent. Various practitioners are riding the business boom by establishing medical transcription companies. More often, these are composed of certified and full-time medical transcriptionists.
In order to decrease expenses, some hospitals are outsourcing medical transcription services in other countries. Asian countries that provide medical billing service to American and British centers are Philippines, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. Outsourcing provides cost benefit advantage because of cheaper labor in other countries. In addition, lower currency rates against the US dollar contribute lower labor expenses to the total business cost.
Outsourcing medical billing service has become more frequent as time passes by. Apparently, this also poses more rigid competition for domestic medical practitioners. Nevertheless, medical professionals say domestic services are still irreplaceable by outsourced services. Medical reports from outsourced companies are still reviewed by domestic medical transcriptionists as part of the country's quality control procedure.
Furthermore, demand for medical transcriptionists is expected to increase by 11 percent in 2018. Medical services for the ageing population of American and European countries entail more transcription and documentation. Thus, increased demand for medical transcriptionists continues in the upcoming years. Competition among medical transcriptionists strengthens because of licensure and certification examinations. Consequently, students must be able to pass these before they can provide medical billing service.
