When most people hear business process outsourcing, the first thing that comes into their minds is the call center industry. Due to our excellent English skills, many companies choose the Philippines as the center of their help desk and technical support operations. However, while this is the most visible side of business process outsourcing, our cheaper cost of labor and language abilities also mean that other functions are now increasingly being transferred here.
There are many misconceptions about medical transcription, many thinking it is just like call center work, or viewing transcription as a service required only by doctors with bad handwriting. But, to follow a cliche with another, there’s more to medical transcription than just that.
An Integral Function of Medicine
Medical transcription is actually a function that has been performed since ancient times as a means of preserving knowledge. After studying their patients and their particular ailments, ancient physicians would record their observations on papyrus for future reference. It has been integral to the growth of medical science from early times. While times may have changed, and knowledge is now stored as data in huge mainframes and complex server systems instead of paper, the function of medical transcription remains the same. To this day, when studying a patient, doctors still make observations, but instead of writing these down on paper, now commonly use voice recorders to keep track of their observations.
New Trends in Transcription
While these recordings contain the information, it is difficult to analyze or share this raw data without converting it into a more accessible medium. This is where medical transcription comes into play. The Audio recording are converted into text format by a medical transcriber. The term can either refer to a person performing this function or to voice-recognition devices that can interpret and encode the data.
Despite the recent advances in technology that allow voice recognition software to encode spoken word into textual data, many still prefer the services of human encoders. This is due to the high cost of voice recognition systems, as it is a relatively new technology, and many systems have not been developed to the point where they can cost-effectively replace people. Automatic Recognition Software still has some years to go before it can match human recognition. This means that there are still opportunities for those who wish to pursue a career in medical transcription
The Work
The benefits of being a medical transcriber are high pay, and relatively acceptable working hours. Since transcription only requires the voice recording, there is less need for graveyard shifts, unlike call center employees who have to match the work schedules of their offshore clients. The work also provides good working experience to those who are in the medical profession, as it serves as a means for them to learn more about their field even while working. Indeed, a major requirement for medical transcribers is basic medical knowledge.
Due to our high number of nursing and medical students, this should not be a problem save for the fact that many of them already opt to work abroad. A DTI article written in August 2005 stated that every year, an average of 30,000 medical professionals complete their studies in the country. Our doctors, nurses and healthcare providers have achieved worldwide recognition for their accuracy, effectiveness and integrity. According to the same article, around 25,000 from the total 380,000 college graduates are qualified to do BPO work (DTI, http://sites.k2ia.com/dti/DTI_News.php?contentID=60).
In a TESDA article, MTC Academy President Eugenio G. Gonzales said that at present the country cannot as yet satisfy the high demand for transcribers due to the lack of awareness among job seekers about employment opportunities in the medical transcription industry. However, Mr. Gonzales remains confident that the growth in the industry comparable to that of contact centers will materialize like in the next three years given the immediate and proper positioning and readiness of the Philippines in the global market. (TESDA, October 2004, http://www.tesda.gov.ph/services1/lmi_oct2004.asp). MTC Academy is the country’s first and largest TESDA accredited medical transcription training program.
Career Advancement
As in call centers, there is room for advancement in Medical Transcription, especially if one is already aiming for a career in health care. Besides promotion to management or to human resources and development for training, the work also provides good experience in the health care field, and can provide an excellent stepping stone to further work in the medical field. Should one continue his or her studies in medicine or nursing, the past experience with transcription offers insights into the profession that normally may take years to reach.
Future Developments
Due to the advancement of voice recognition programs, medical transcription as a career is not going to be around forever. While it is some time before the technology becomes adequate to eliminate the need for people to do the work, large players in the IT industry such as IBM, Philips and Microsoft have been investing heavily in voice recognition research. Bill Gates has predicted that the technology will be present by 2011, and IBM is even targeting 2010 as the rollout date for their voice recognition systems.
As new technology develops, the industry will have to become more and more competitive just to survive. Lower salaries may become standard as more companies will be switching to the newer technologies. But until that point, the market is still set to grow for outsourced medical transcription. So if you are interested in a career in health care and are looking for an entry level job that provides more immediate financial benefits, there is no time to waste! Now is the time to make use of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
For a listing of the different job Opening for medical transcribers, log on to www.jobstreet.com, click on “search jobs” and type medical transcription in the search field.
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