Dear Abby - Cindy Posted: Jul 20th, 2015 - 9:48 am In Reply to: Offshoring is not your problem ... front-end SR is. - Wake Up!
I never think it's a bad idea to put your thoughts to paper, whether or not it will cause change. Sometimes just writing things down seems to clarify things.
I received an electronic newsletter from a transcription company, Keystrokes. I don't have any previous experience with them, but I will say that I rather liked how honest they were about where medical transcriptionists fit in to today's hospital market. They pretty much describe the job as a great way for a stay-at-home mom to make extra money, a work-in-your-PJs kind of thing. When you think about it, $20 to $30K is pretty low when you think of commuting to an office everyday, going to the drycleaners, and paying daycare. But when you stack it up against other work-at-home jobs like telemarketing, selling Avon, etc., it's not bad. Also, medical transcription is much easier than it used to be. Since all the references are on-line, there is no need to maintain an inventory of reference books. Most systems have the patient information "blow into" the report rather than having to research that. It really has become a job that you can do just about anywhere. But that is the essence of the thing. It is now considered a job and not a career. If you wrap your head around it that way, I think it is easier to reckon with. Anyone watch Downton Abbey? Being a typist used to be considered a career; now it's a job. Now, I haven't totally drunk the Kool-Aid. I am not sure how wise it is to pay people minimum wage who have access to patient's health information. Especially as the overall economy improves, hospitals/services will have a difficult time finding good people to work for a low wage. If they lower their standards too much they may find people with compromised integrity handling these records. Time will tell.
Here is the excerpt from the Keystrokes newsletter.
"Is medical transcription still a viable career? There is no doubt that our industry has undergone a lot of changes the past few years. From offshore to speech recognition to EMRs to scribes, it seems as though every change is meant to eliminate us. While we don't believe that transcription is becoming obsolete, we do believe that the changes are drastic. Hospitals and clinics have driven the rates that they will pay down, and everyone suffers. Some people feel like transcription is no longer a career meant to support a family, but it is still a good second income for a family or enough to support a single person on a small scale. Instead of focusing on the negative, look at the positives of working at home. It really can be a great career for a working mother. It is a great career for people living in remote areas who may not have many employment options or people who are homebound. You do not have a long, sometimes unpredicable commute. You can be home when your children get home from school or have a day off, scheduled or unscheduled. You do not need a separate work wardrobe, and you do not have dry cleaning bills. No gas to purchase, no wear-and-tear on your car, no daycare costs. You can work a 2nd or 3rd shift and not worry about leaving your children or pets home alone. You can work around or with your significant other's schedule. There are a lot of pluses. The bottom line is that hospitals and clinics still need transcription, and with the new ICD-10 codes, we truly believe that there will be an increase in transcription volume over the next few years."
If you notice, there is very little talk these days about MTs getting certified.
I would say if you want a Norma Rae (old movie with Sally Field) moment, I think your best bet would be to speak with your representatives and anyone running for public office (either local or federal). The Keystrokes letter made me really consider whether this would be happening in a field that was no dominated by women. This is a real "war on women." Who knows, a political type may consider spinning this to be his or her pet issue.
I think it makes sense from a cost containment perspective to replace people with reliable technology when possible, but it is obvious that at least at the present time transcription is necessary. My take is they are hoping the legacy transcriptionists who are already trained will last long enough for their jobs to be replaced. It really is a grizzly business.
Somewhere patient care is mixed in with all this--which is something that I think people forget sometimes.
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