| You've probably heard different opinions and | | | | patterns (this takes time and is not done |
| views on this subject. If you're a medical | | | | automatically), yes it is possible. |
| transcriptionist you may even be concerned about | | | | If the doctor thereafter dictates very clearly, |
| voice recognition taking over your career... and | | | | using proper punctuation in his speech (stopping |
| you're not alone. | | | | for periods, pausing for commas) without any |
| Let's dig a bit deeper into voice recognition. | | | | background noise or interruptions. Yes, it is |
| As you already know, doctors are busy people. | | | | possible. |
| This is never more obvious then when they're | | | | Will the document be 100% accurate? |
| dictating their notes. It's understandable they're | | | | No. |
| busy, and as their MT, I can surely forgive them | | | | Remember medical records have to be in |
| but will the latest voice recognition software be as | | | | compliance with a number of very strict |
| forgiving as me? | | | | regulations. Most doctors, will not trust voice |
| Not likely. | | | | recognition enough to send these records through |
| As a transcriptionist you will have typed through | | | | without at least a quick glance through. |
| background noise, patients moaning, doctors | | | | Even under the best dictating circumstances the |
| eating their lunch, personal conversations (oops | | | | report will still need to be proofread and edited. |
| they forgot the recorder was on) and other | | | | So, yes under the "perfect" circumstances, voice |
| incomprehensible noise. Not to mention, ESL | | | | recognition can replace a transcriptionist. |
| doctors with heavy accents and very tired ER | | | | Is it likely? Not unless every physician out there is |
| doctors after a long shift! | | | | willing to take the time, energy and ongoing effort |
| At this time there is no voice recognition | | | | to train their voice recognition software and |
| software which can handle this type of voice | | | | maintain a certain standard of dictation. |
| recognition. It is impossible for the software to | | | | I don't see that happening any time soon. Doctors |
| determine actual speech from mistakes in | | | | are busy people, remember? ;) |
| conversation, background noise, heavy accents, | | | | If anything, us MTs should embrace voice |
| etc. | | | | recognition and use it as a tool to help us in our |
| So what does this mean for our future? | | | | MT careers. If applied properly, it can be a |
| Rumors of MTs being out of r a job have been | | | | time-saving tool. So why not use it for our |
| around long before I became an MT. Eight years | | | | purposes? |
| later, there are still no real advances in this field. | | | | As with any business to stay ahead of the game |
| Can voice recognition ever replace | | | | you have to adapt to change and technology. |
| transcriptionists? | | | | Learn how to use it to your advantage instead of |
| Sure it can. | | | | being frightened by it. That's the only way to stay |
| If a doctor is willing to sit down and take the | | | | ahead of the competition.... Voice recognition or |
| sufficient time to train his voice recognition | | | | otherwise. |
| software to recognize his voice and speech | | | | |