The sky is falling � College closes Medical Transcription Program � MTSO cut out as - Food for Thought

The sky is falling !!!

Anyone else see this?  Is this an aberration or a portent of the direction Medical Transcription is heading? 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

College ends medical transcription program

Recently Delhi University announced its Medical Transcription Program, for the first time, was producing better transcriptionists in India including South Asia.  In the meantime, San Juan College is closing its Medical Transcription Program stating that there is less room for advancement in the field.

Cited:  The Daily Times, Framington, New Mexico:

Date: September 19, 2010
Publication: Daily Times, The (Farmington, NM)

Fearing it may be preparing students for a diminishing profession, San Juan College will shut down its Medical Transcription Program at the end of the school year.

Many health care professionals anticipate computer programs will soon replace medical transcriptionists.

The School of Health Sciences will focus on modernizing the Coding and Health Information Technologies Degrees instead.  Students with those degrees are qualified for better paying jobs, said Oliver Borden, the Dean of the Health Sciences School.

"One of the reasons we're getting out of (Medical Transcription) is because there is less room for advancement" as Medical Transcriptionists, he said.  "We're choosing to focus on a major that has the brightest future."

The 30 students currently enrolled in the Medical Transcription Program have until the end of the school year to complete the two-semester program.

Medical Transcriptionists have an average salary of $24,000 to $30,000 dollars per year, and there are few opportunities for earning a raise in that field, Borden said.

On the other hand, students who graduate with a Health Information Technology Degree from the college are more versatile, and if they turn their Associate Degree into a Bachelor's Degree, and then a Master's Degree, their average salary would increase to $81,500, Borden said.

"It gives them a chance at life-long learning," he said.  "There are stepping stones that are available."

Hospitals and health care providers are switching to electronic medical records and a new coding system, Borden said.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting a 22-percent increase in jobs in the health care industry by 2018.  The college is reshaping the Health Sciences School so students can get those jobs, Borden said.

Several local health care providers said in recent years they have outsourced medical transcription services or begun using computer programs for the service.

"It's cheaper and a lot faster," said Tabitha Joyce, the office manager for High Desert Rheumatology.

A year ago, High Desert Rheumatology and Internal Medicine started outsourcing medical transcription services to Intivia, a New Jersey-based company that uses a computer program to make transcriptions within 48 hours.

San Juan College
4601 College Boulevard

Farmington, New Mexico    87402

http://www.sanjuancollege.edu/pages/3531.asp?item=175

September 28, 2010:  Intivia, Inc. Awarded Transcription Service Contract by Innovatix, LLC and Essensa.  Innovatix, LLC is a full-service group purchasing organization serving over 14,000 non-acute care facilities throughout the United States. 

MY QUESTION:  Is Intivia going to give MedQuist a run for its money?  Intivia has a U.S. Headquarters, but all work is done in India.  It appears that some medical facilities are bypassing the middlemen (MedQuist, Transcend) and going straight to India. 

Intivia

Year Founded:  2002

Team Size:  Intivia employs a strong team of over 400 qualified people within its network.  

Corporate Headquarters: 

Intivia, Inc.
Piscataway, NJ  08854

India Offices

Bangalore Office
Trivandrum Office
Vadodara Office

Link to the Article Above: 

http://medicaltranscriptionnepal.blogspot.com/2010/09/college-ends-medical-transcription.html

Link to some interesting information about recent events – acquisitions, new software: 

http://transcriptionprogram.net/arc/transcription-program-%7C-transcription-program-100310.php