| You don't have to look that far into the past to | | | | can deliver updates to people no matter where |
| see a time when medical transcriptionists would | | | | they are located. |
| receive garbled speech on cassette tapes from | | | | Because many medical transcription workers are |
| medical practitioners and have to type in all of the | | | | remotely located, it is also important that the |
| information manually. Times have changed | | | | voice transcription software is not prohibitively |
| significantly and voice transcription software has | | | | difficult to use. Quality training materials must be |
| made an enormous difference in the way that | | | | supplied and they need to be produced in a |
| medical transcription companies work. For some, it | | | | format that transcriptionists can understand. Time |
| has made it more profitable to be in the | | | | spent learning how to use software is not |
| transcription business. For those that are slow to | | | | productive or profitable so systems that are |
| adapt it has meant lost clients and sometimes the | | | | complicated and full of bugs will soon be discarded. |
| failure of the business. | | | | Much more is changing than just the way that the |
| Voice transcription software has improved | | | | voice transcription software changes speech to |
| dramatically in the past few years. It was first | | | | text. Companies that provide the best software |
| adapted for other uses, but it soon became clear | | | | platforms will not only make sure that medical |
| that the medical transcription industry could use | | | | transcriptionists have a highly usable interface to |
| this kind of software to its advantage. The | | | | use, but they can also have their work distributed |
| challenge was that regular speech recognition | | | | to them in an efficient manner. Less money |
| software will not accommodate the enormous | | | | needs to be spent on middle management in this |
| number of medical terms that are used by the | | | | case and often the distribution of work is |
| clients of medical transcription companies. This | | | | smoother when it is automated. There must also |
| terminology can include equipment, anatomical | | | | be a facility for manual overrides to work |
| terms, medicines and the names of procedures. | | | | distribution one priority assignments are required. |
| Part of the difficulty when it comes to software | | | | While this kind of software platform is changing |
| is that medicine is constantly changing and so too | | | | the industry and making it more efficient, it also |
| are the terms that are used. | | | | faces certain challenges in the future. In the past, |
| A company that provides voice transcription | | | | many companies have not paid much attention to |
| software to transcription companies will have to | | | | the compliance issues brought about by the Health |
| provide a solution that can allow for upgrades to | | | | Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. |
| be made to the system without an interruption to | | | | Transcription companies and voice transcription |
| the flow of work. Many transcription companies | | | | software providers that do not take heed of the |
| employ transcriptionists as independent | | | | stipulations set out by the act are likely to suffer |
| contractors and they may be working on a | | | | for it in the long term. Transcription companies |
| remote basis. It is therefore imperative that the | | | | should insist that is the part of the software |
| company supplying voice transcription software | | | | platform that they consider using. |