A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Can we really compete? - Worried
Posted: Sep 12, 2013
Is anyone else worried the VR/SR softwares are taking our jobs? I've lost 2 clients this week alone because they have turned to transcribing and editing themselves with one of these softwares. The latest version of one software is saying that it is 95-99% accurate and claims to adjust to your "word pattern" with each use, making it 100% accurate after just a few times of being used. I'm very concerned that our field is dying out. Is anyone else losing work or concerned about it?
It will be increasingly difficult! I'm trying to find an outside job. - Realist
[ In Reply To ..]I, too, have seen some of the latest VR/SR software, and it was super close to exactly what the doctor said. It only missed one word, which was the word "was" and didn't impact his note at all.
Also, nearly ALL of my doctors/nurses and those of my family members have gone mostly to point and click. The younger physicians, who have grown up around computers, are seeming to be doing pretty well with it.
I really think it's going to be an increasingly difficult struggle to survive, and most of the jobs will offer less compensation, not more. It's already clearly happening. I can look at my own career, and my pay and benefits have been steadily decreasing over time. My work flow has been unstable. Sometimes I'll have a really solid week, but then the next week, it's sketchy. I've lost some of my favorite doctors as they've gone to point and click. Who can budget? Who can plan? Who can save anything like this?
future - anon
[ In Reply To ..]I still think that a computer just cannot absolutely take away and replace humans. What if that one word was a drug/dose critical error. It takes one error to make a law suit. I have been in this business 24 years and although I have seen it change I have yet to see a computer completely replace a human. I lost my job to outsourcing, but to an outside contract company, not software. I think that if you are in family medicine/internist then that might be an easier field of medicine to point and click but when it comes to the more complicated fields like vascular, heart, etc. I think it bodes a physician well to make sure there are absolutely no mistakes. Also, I hear patients increasingly complaining about the time they get with the doctor and at some point the doctor is going to have to listen because somewhere there is going to be a mistake made with all the extra patient loads they are getting in the more advanced fields of medicine such as cardiac, etc. And also as far as operative notes go, easily these have to be edited always. I do not want my physician pointing and clicking with a scalpel in me. I just feel in my opinion that it can only go so far. Remember how when we started getting ATM machines everyone said that was going to replace the tellers and you would not see anyone working in person at the banks anymore? They still have tellers although maybe not for the easier transactions that can be done at the ATM. They still use them and still need them so who knows? I for one am going to hang in here. I do not work for Nuance anymore Thank God! but I do believe that we are still needed. When you look at the web sites that need MTs across this country and even still in the offices it is not going to be obsolete anytime in my near future. I think it is a changing field and will continue to change but I believe we are still needed. It is not per se transcription anymore like it used to be but editing which is in my position a hugely important part of my job. There is no way these reports could go back to the charts without editing first. Remember Alex Travec on Jeapardy? They created that monster computer system to play against humans and although it had all the knowledge the human force could feed into it, it still was not always right and it was supposed to be smarter than humans and sometimes it was and sometimes it was not. Well this is just my opinion and in the realm of this world probably not worth much! Just sayin :)
The point you are missing - sm
[ In Reply To ..]Your view of this seems to be exactly like things are now. In other words, it has the report getting dictated, sitting in a computer, getting transcribed by the machine, then getting sent back, getting uploaded, then at long last the doctor sees it hours or days later. With that view, you think that an MT is surely needed to step in and fix things up.
You aren't getting several things. One is that the software is far better than what you have now. Another is that THERE IS NO LAG TIME. The report is transcribed right in front of the doctor, who happens to be literate and very interested in the output. He corrects his dictation right then. The corrected copy goes onto the chart. Electronically.
Agree that some jobs will probably last, but - Realist
[ In Reply To ..]how many have been lost and how many still will be, especially when you compare how technology moves forward?
I sure don't see many clinic jobs being posted any longer. I see loads of MTs sitting idle, and we all know that work is being sent to foreign countries (lots of it).
We're being squeezed by both technology and offshoring. The work is becoming increasingly scarce, and realistically, technology usually moves forward and improves steadily over time.
I was asked during an interview to go through my daily work routine. It's pretty much the same thing over and over again. Sure, there's challenge regarding terminology and ESL dictators, but it's basically the same thing over and over again. I personally think technology will eventually improve and will take it over. I think the real question is how soon that will happen.
The surgeon with the scalpel in his hand hopefully doesn't dictate while he's doing the surgery? What he can do is dictate after the surgery is finished and have it transcribed by a machine, eventually an error-free machine (or close to it). He can immediately see any errors and fix them (if needed) as the doctor I observed did. Why would he want to send his dictation to a human, wait for it to be returned, and possibly still have errors (because we make them)?
Just think about progress overall and all the jobs lost to automation...
Anyway, just my opinion, but I'm looking around, and honestly, I think the writing is on the wall.
I've known this for many years now. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]It is not quite ready yet, but it won't be long.
I think I agree...it won't be long now - Worried
[ In Reply To ..]I've been tossing around buying new software so I can do editing because my business was just straight transcription but I'll be honest, I'm scared to spend the money because I may not get it back. Losing 2 of my regular clients is a hard hit to my company. And you're right, they catch the mistakes on the screen as they are made. It's really no different (timewise) then they already are spending. They were already dictating into a recorder for us, now when they do it it's on a screen instead and if there is a mistake they correct it right there and then. I just don't know. I'm very worried that my company is done. I started it 2 years ago and it was going good until this past summer. I'm very very concerned for all of us.
definitely do not waste your $ - mt
[ In Reply To ..]Find a new business! this job can now be accomplished by a third world country. I'm not sure what my next move is either.
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