Today, health care is one of the fastest growing industries and within the health care industry; one of the domains that has revolutionized and risen to the pinnacle is the medical transcription industry!

Medical transcription has constantly for a decade been one of the most booming domains of the health care industry but with the advent of new technology and President Obama’s health care reforms, the future of medical transcription has been under a lot of debate. If you have been associated with the medical transcription industry (either as a medical transcriptionist or as a health care practitioner), you must have come across innumerable debates and discussions about the future of medical transcription. Has the medical transcription industry reached its dooms stage? Or will it continue to rise as unaffected? have been some of the most frequently asked questions!    

Medical transcription was already a popular niche because every doctor or physician required an experienced and skilled transcriptionist to transcribe their voice recordings into digitized texts. However, the medical transcription industry received more traction when the United States Department of Health and Human Services introduced its health care reforms in 2010. These health care reforms through revolutionary stirred the medical transcription community. So let’s list what were these health care reforms and what did they entail? Well, in 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services introduced EMR’s (Electronic Medical Records) also known as EHR’s (Electronic Health Records). These Electronic Medical Records were to be implemented in all the health care institutions across the country. This system was not optional to the health care institutions. It was established as a mandatory requirement by the affordable health care for America act! This health care reform by the United States Department of the Health and Human Services along with the voice recognition software wearied many medical transcriptionists. Many health care professionals along with the medical transcriptionist professionals wondered if the new health care reform will pose a threat to their jobs but fortunately, that is not the case!

So, let’s discuss why medical transcription jobs are not threatened by these new health care reforms? Well, it is basically because the job of a medical transcriptionist is like various other technical jobs that require the professionals to be skillful! Medical transcription is a high skill job that values experience.

Initially, the job of a medical transcriptionist was to listen to the voice recordings, analyze the discussion in the recordings and then transcribe them into medical reports. However, today an experienced and skilled medical transcriptionist can not only transcribe but can also edit voice recognition draft reports and proofread these reports. Since the career of a medical transcriptionist is forever evolving, it requires experienced and skillful professionals who are always keen on learning new techniques so that they are current with the industry!

The future of the medical transcription industry was also threatened by the advent of a new technology in the health care industry, voice recognition software’s! When this voice recognition software also known as the speech recognition software was introduced to the health care industry, it was speculated by many professionals that the medical transcription industry will now be on the decline. However; the integration of voice recognition software into the health care did not pose any threat to the medical transcription industry. Instead, it created a demand for a professional and experienced medical transcriptionist to edit and proof read the software generated transcribed document.

These health care reforms and the advent of new technology made everyone realize that no matter the type of technology introduced into the health care systems, there will always be a requirement for an experienced medical transcriptionist to review the documents so that 100% accuracy can be ensured. The new technology can transcribe the documents in a faster and an easier way but it cannot ensure the accuracy of the document. The software generated reports will need to be re-read, edited and proof-read. Thus, the demand for an experienced medical transcriptionist is not extinguished in the industry. That’swhy you can always see the medical transcription companies looking for the experienced and talented medical transcriptionists.

In summary, the future of medical transcription industry seems promising! It is important to note that the health care industry will keep on evolving and along with it, its’ professionals should too! If you a medical transcriptionist currently wondering about the scope of the industry and your career, we will advice you that the medical transcription industry is here to stay! And you can stay current by honing your skills and educating yourself with the new technology and various medical niches.