The Brilliant Future of Medical Transcription

Often when someone is interested in becoming a medical transcriptionist they are curious about what the future of medical transcription is going to be. They want to be sure, understandably, that there is a solid future awaiting them in this field.

Their main concern usually involves Speech (or Voice) Recognition Technology (SRT).

There are two main types of voice recognition: Front-end voice recognition and back-end voice recognition. In both cases the doctors are dictating into a microphone fed into a computer. The "microphone" could be their PDA (personal digital assistant), a telephone, or an actual microphone at a computer station. The computer then converts their spoken words into written words and stores them in an electronic document.

With front-end voice recognition, the doctor knows that this is being done and is able to see the report being transcribed by the computer. She can edit and sign the report without it being seen by an MT if she wants to have it processed that way (few do!). A second option is for her to be able look at the report but then have an MT edit it before she signs off on it.

With back-end voice recognition, the doctor often isn't aware the software is in place. It is invisible to him. He will speak into a microphone like he always has, never knowing that the computer is turning his spoken words into written ones. These reports are then sent to an MT for editing purposes and then they are returned to the doctor for his signature.

Software in this field is advancing rapidly, but for the most part it is still unable to handle the wide variety of doctors' accents combined with the extensive medical vocabulary they use. In addition, SRT does not correct typographical errors, nor can it catch dictation errors when, for example, the wrong dosage is dictated for a medication. Most hospitals and large transcription companies that use SRT have simply transitioned their medical transcriptionists over to being MT editors. This recently happened to me, and I have to say I really enjoy editing work! It is fast, it is interesting, it is varied, and there is always at least one good laugh each day. Today I really appreciated the software turning the patient's name into a medical condition. It was quite hilarious!

Many MTs actually would rather do editing work, as it can be much easier physically (especially on the wrists) to listen and correct a report than to listen and type every word spoken.

The wonderful news for the person investigating becoming a medical transcriptionist is that the training is still the same. You still need to know the basic medical terminology, pharmaceutical terms, and speed techniques, because they will all still be involved should you end up doing editing work rather than straight transcription. The other thing you should know is that it is very, very rare for anyone to ever do 100% editing work. Even the best back-end voice recognition software packages for physicians are only able to accurately transcribe 70% to 80% of the voices in any given system. A lot of doctors simply move around their text too much and are far too disorganized in their transcription style to even begin to allow SRT to create a semi-decent report!

In summary, the smart, educated, well-equipped medical transcriptionist rarely has a hard time finding a good position. The future of medical transcription is still very bright!

Susan Eliot is an expert in the field of medical transcription. She is an excellent resource when it comes to finding medical transcriptionist work. She owns and operates her own medical transcription company and knows first hand all the details about medical transcriptionist work.