| Speech recognition technology has been | | | | transcriptionist is qualified to determine where the |
| threatening to eliminate traditional medical | | | | errors may lie in the draft medical report. It is of |
| transcription jobs for several decades now. | | | | paramount importance that each rough document |
| However, the reality of the situation is that, while | | | | be thoroughly reviewed and edited by a highly |
| voice recognition technology certainly has grown in | | | | skilled medical transcriptionist. The integrity of our |
| importance in the healthcare industry, it is | | | | healthcare system relies on correct information |
| nowhere near being capable of replacing a | | | | being provided to physicians who are dealing with |
| traditional medical transcriptionist. At home medical | | | | patients and making decisions on their behalf. An |
| transcription jobs are as plentiful as ever and the | | | | inaccurate medical records file can spell disaster |
| future of medical transcription is extremely bright. | | | | for a patient and cause extreme frustration to |
| But the one thing that has happened as a | | | | the healthcare delivery system. |
| consequence of speech recognition technology | | | | In time, more and more of the voice dictation |
| development is that the role of some medical | | | | files produced by physicians will be processed |
| transcriptionists has been transformed to a fairly | | | | through speech recognition software. This will |
| large degree. By and large, most medical | | | | force the current pool of medical transcriptionists |
| transcriptionists still transcribe the old fashioned | | | | to retool their skill sets. Instead of listening and |
| way: they listen to a physician dictated sound file | | | | transcribing verbatim, the medical transcriptionist |
| and transcribe the report more or less word for | | | | of the future will likely be listening and editing a |
| word. As voice recognition gains traction, the | | | | document that comes up on a computer screen |
| starting point for an at home medical | | | | in an edit mode. |
| transcriptionist is increasingly a rough draft of a | | | | Sophisticated technology is certainly bringing |
| document that has been produced by voice | | | | efficiency to the medical transcription industry, but |
| recognition software. | | | | the need for quality work at home medical |
| As a general rule, voice recognition software is | | | | transcriptionists and work at home medical record |
| able to produce an output that is perhaps | | | | editors will live on and continue to grow well into |
| somewhere between 60% to 80% correct - | | | | the future. In fact there has never been a more |
| assuming the physician is a good dictator. The | | | | opportune time to train to become a medical |
| problem of course, is that only a trained medical | | | | transcriptionist! |