“Necessity is the mother of all invention” and the soaring to need to have proper documentation of individuals medical record created the scope for something like medical transcription. This customized automation of data requires an efficient data management system that would keep track of all the medical records of an individual. In 1960, emerged the Hospital Management System that addressed the multiple aspects of healthcare such as patients, doctors, medical records, and prescriptions. With so much of critical patient data floating around, it was essential to organize it thereby creating a scope for the new practice called the medical transcription.
Medical Transcription as the word suggests would seem like a mere recording of a dictated script, but essentially it inculcates the practice of maintaining accurate documented records for both reference and critical purposes like insurance. The scope of medical transcription services includes history and physical reports, SOAP notes, clinical summary, patient charts, and medical records. Since each of these services call for specific domain expertise, medical transcription calls for a team comprising of a clever mix of client account managers, quality associates and editors.
Like any other industry, the field of medical transcription has undergone massive changes owing to three critical factors such as advances in voice recognition software, increase in transcription function overseas and new guidelines laid by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding electronic health records (EHR). The rapid advancement in the speech recognition software has generated the need for skilled transcriptionist for deciphering the multifaceted records. Like all others, medical transcription has taken the outsourcing detour. Outsourcing of the medical transcription work to India has considerably increased with soaring need for accurately edited records. Furthermore, in 2010, the Health and Human Service Department in the US introduced a set of standards defining the quality use of electronic health records. It has serious implications of the traditional process of transcribing from audio dictation, thereby giving the EHR system a definite format that would rationally segregate information like medications, allergies, and consultations.
According to Global Market Analysts report, the global medical transcription services market will reach a market value of $ 48.43 billion by 2015. This predication spells ample growth opportunities for Indian transcription market as India already dominates over other outsourcing destinations. Medical transcription as evolved as a forte for the Indian outsourcing industry owing to its expansive talent pool of technical and communication experts. The three-tier workflow process is stringently adhered to in India, and that ensures a quality delivery. Most of the Indian transcriptionists are completely aware of medical terminologies and are HIPAA certified. All these factors, over the decade, have put India in a favorable position in the medical transcription landscape.
