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


Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Outlook for MT - (SM)


Posted: Mar 20, 2013

From the BLS website:

Job Outlook
Medical Transcriptionists

Percent change in employment, projected 2010-20
Other Healthcare Support Occupations - 25%  
Total, All Occupations - 14%  
Medical Transcriptionists - 6%  

Employment of medical transcriptionists is expected to grow 6 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. The volume of healthcare services is expected to continue to increase, resulting in a growing number of medical tests and procedures, all of which will require transcription.

At the same time, technological advances in recent years have changed the way medical transcription is done. In the past, medical transcriptionists would listen to an entire dictation to produce a transcribed report. Today, many medical documents are prepared with the use of back-end speech recognition technology, in which specialized software automatically prepares an initial draft of a report. The transcriptionist then reviews the draft for accuracy, listening to the original recording as needed. Such technological advances are expected to continue, making the individual transcriptionist far more productive and limiting employment growth overall.

As healthcare providers seek to cut costs, some have hired transcription services in other countries. However, concerns about patient confidentiality and data security suggest a continued need for transcriptionists within the United States.

New MTs dont wanna hear that - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
They wanna believe those ads with the women sitting in a comfy chair with six kids on their lap, smiling away next to the computer, and the ad says "Make $60,000 a year at home!"

That is what a new MT was to hear. They all graduate with honors, they all believe they are the best, and none of them will listen to the warnings, they think we lie!

I believe you - Thornbush

[ In Reply To ..]
That's why I'm in the MT profession for a supplementary income - it's not my main job because I know you can't make a living off being an MT. Not these days.

Not on this planet - maybe

[ In Reply To ..]
on Zeta Reticula where point-and-click and other electronic records that don't require transcriptionists have yet to be invented.

Whoever did the research for that report missed a huge part of the equation. Healthcare providers will continue to cut costs wherever they can, and recordkeeping is an area where technology can replace expensive humans fairly easily. VR will get better. Practitioners will become accustomed to having to do some of the input themselves. New EMR systems will be develped. There may be jobs in the new reality for us, but it won't be as transcriptionists.

We need to figure out how we can leverage the new technologies to our advantage to find new careers or develop other skills entirely.

well, the study actually says - slower than average growth

[ In Reply To ..]
6% is not very much. I feel bad for people who have gone through school and paid so much money and were really sold a bill of goods.

I warned and felt bad for them for years, now all I can manage is - wishing them a speedy awakening and exit. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
x

I think the wording could have been better - (SM)

[ In Reply To ..]
It gives the impression that since more procedures and tests will be done that more transcription will be needed. It should really say more documentation will be needed, not necessarily via transcription, though. Other than that, I interpret the outlook as pretty grim for MT based on that little BLS blurb, especially considering transcription as an occupation is expected to grow a lot slower than all other occupations in general and a heck of a lot slower than other health occupations - 6% versus 14% versus 25%, respectively. It is more grim than when I started at MTEC back in 2007. The outlook on the BLS website for MT back then was all rosy and bright and expected to grow faster than average. There was no mention of VR technology or offshoring on the job outlook back then like there is now. I am glad it has been updated.

"listening to the original recording as needed"? - mom22dogs

[ In Reply To ..]
Really? I don't think so! We listen to the WHOLE REPORT!

Yep. - It should say

[ In Reply To ..]
"...listening to the original recording and making corrections to the draft as needed."


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