A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

is MT a dying field?? - Jay

Posted: Oct 26, 2009

is MT a dying field?? i hear voice recogintion will make mts obsolete plus companies are outsourcing work to India.

No, but it is changing drastically and quickly. (sm) - Multi-MTSO MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Just like all other industries, technology is changing the game and so is offshoring.

There are limits, though, to how much technology and offshore workers can do.

In my opinion (after 20+ years in MT), I truly believe we will have very little transcription left that is only extremely difficult ESLs and possibly a few handfuls of companies/clients who refuse to allow VR to be used. The rest will be VR work so there will not be as great a need for numbers/volume of MTs but highly skilled MTs will be the necessity.

As far as offshoring, I think it will rebound some but it will always be here.

Like anything else, you have to be prepared to continually educate yourself and recreate your skill set and abilities as the trade changes.

What needs changing the most, I guess, is our desire - to do this as a living, and not as a "hobby". - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
As each year goes by, we're expected to accept less and less in return for our services. Before long, that will all boil down to "free", which equals "hobby".

Is MT a dying field? - jane

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I believe it is dying, may take a few years yet but eventually it will bite the dust because of EMR, speech recognition etc. I am blessed to have a job at age 68, three days a week, and the doctor will probably never go to EMR or speech recognition.

companies are Offshoring. - n/m

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n/m

Electronic Medical Programs - Not Optimistic

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Yep. You're right about MT becoming a dying field. If it does not die, the pay will remain so low until no one will want to work as an MT, especially if all dictation is only from difficult ESLs and English-speaking dictators. Many in the healthcare industry fought electronic patient records. Now this is almost the standard. I expect even if VSR software remains imperfect, the line rates for VSR will dip even lower. Why? Because there will always be someone waiting to do the work, no matter how low the pay. MTs are quite expendable as MQ has shown by the changes that benefit corporate structure while ignoring harm to those at the bottom of the hierarchy (i.e. constant low pay, horrible dictation).

EMRs - MTforever

[ In Reply To ..]
A little off this topic, but just reviewing Medicare guidelines for 2010 noticed something I should've already known--or did and it just didn't hit me hard enough. With the PHR (personal health records), you can have corrections made to wrong info in your "chart," get better access to your records, etc. With EMR, it's all in the hands of the docs and health-care big-wigs. I hate that. Appeals can be made, etc, but I'd be dead before they made a decision! Where are patients' rights in the midst of this all-electronic world? You're right about the MTs lining up to replace us. My high school principal told us back in the '60s that the best lesson we can learn in life is that "Everyone one is expendable and to try to excel in all we did." Excelling didn't quite do the trick either!

dying - Tracy

[ In Reply To ..]
I felt it was dying back in '05 and sold my service then. In the meantime, I've tried to work off and on but it never works out! Between the platforms, the type of work, and pay rate I can't make any money. And that's with 15 years experience.

I started nursing school a year ago because for me, MT isn't a viable option anymore.

Yes I think so - bad investment

[ In Reply To ..]
I only know one specialty that I learned by on the job training. A couple people have asked me recently why I don't go to school and learn all the rest of them...frankly I can't see investing the money and time into a career that pays less money and has less jobs every day. I have lost the majority of my work to front-end speech recognition, and no amount of training will bring that account back. I really don't see the point in investing thousands to make pennies editing the garbage a computer cranks out - its not financially sensible.

Dying field - gourdpainter

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I don't know if they've had the funeral yet but it's certainly in the "wake" stage IMHO.

Am I wasting my time then? - Mandy Sue

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I was really hoping to become a CMT. Should I strive for something higher, a BA in med. admin or somthing of that nature? I hope it does not phase out too fast. I would still like a shot at doing this job and doing it well.

CMT - wondering

[ In Reply To ..]
Why do you want to be a CMT? To get more money? Don't think so. I was a CMT in the 90s and all it got me was 3 initials after my name. Then I had to put out much money on my part and attend meetings to get my CEC's in order to keep my 3 initials behind my name. Back in the 90s I could attend monthly meetings and MT conventions, but that is not as easy anymore. And after all that, I gave up my CMT initials behind my name. Did not change anything either.

CMT is a scam. I can't understand why people - are still falling for it. (nm)

[ In Reply To ..]
,

Agree. - nm

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x

Mandy Sue - gourdpainter

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think you are ever wasting your time by learning. In my opinion it really depends on what your goals are. I think that if you want to make a living at MT, it is highly questionable whether you can do so now or in the future. There are multiple, multiple posts from MTs who have low/no work and I believe them. There is nitpicking QA and I believe them also. Also there are those who swear they have plenty of work and make great money. I don't know them or the companies they work for. Perhaps they are truthful as to their personal situation, I don't personally know anyone who is doing well as far as their paychecks are concerned. Many of those I know are getting out of the field. One is going to chef school, another is studying to become a paralegal, others have got out of MT and are working at whatever jobs they can find.

Personally I hope your long term career is for something a little higher up the ladder such as the med. admin. as you mentioned. I don't know what they are called now but a Medical Records Director might be something to consider also. I can see where that aspect of medical records will grow.

I think it is in America. Although there will continue -sm - MTDaze

[ In Reply To ..]
to be a need for transcription in one form or another, it's being so badly under-priced, that I don't see how any American MT will be able to afford to stay in it for much longer.

And what's going to happen to us when the economy starts to pick up again, and the price of everything from rent to corn flakes goes up even more? Will they give us raises? NO. Will they even give back the wages they recently chopped due to the "economy"? NO.

Their answer will be the typical, "you'll just have to be more productive". At the same time, they'll invest in more "improvements" to their transcription software that make us even LESS productive.

My hatred for the Greedy Ones knows no bounds.

is MT a dying field? - back in college

[ In Reply To ..]
This is exactly why I made the decision to go back to school to learn EMR. I'm hoping to find a job in a hospital working in the cancer registry..may take a while..hope things hold out until I'm done with school.

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