Future of Medical Transcription in 2018 and Beyond

According to the Speech & Voice Recognition Market by Technology, Application, Vertical, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022, the market of speech recognition is going to increase to a staggering $9.97 billion by the year 2022. In today's day and age of digitalization and the ability to access a plethora of information at your fingertips, documenting every detail has become vital. Latest trends in medical transcription show that the industry is going to be one of the fastest growing industries in 2018. Keeping this is in mind, businesses need to keep themselves updated with the latest happenings in the industry. This will help them take the right business decisions at the right time.

Top Medical Transcription Predictions for 2018 and Beyond

The constantly changing role of medical transcription has transformed transcription professionals into keen learners. The future of medical transcription is strong, and here are a few trends the industry which will prevail in 2018 and in the coming years -

• Cloud Technology to Revolutionize the Transcription World

  Documents and medical records will be stored on cloud-based systems, making them easily accessible from any part of the globe. As part of this huge shift, communication will also change to that of an online, instant variety. This will change the future of medical transcription in 2018 and beyond, for decades to come, quite drastically. With the easy availability of medical records across the globe, the role of medical transcription in 2018 becomes that of an influencer, especially to the research and development section of the medical industry. It can aid in breakthroughs in science for cures, alternative solutions, and general do's and don'ts to follow in clinical trials.

• Globalization of Workforce to Take Place

  With the advancement of technology and communication methods, the workforce in the medical transcription industry will no longer be restricted to the first world countries specializing in the industry. Medical transcription in 2018 and beyond is likely to be heavily outsourced to the rest of the world to reliable third-party vendors. Outsourcing wasn't considered during the earlier recession as an effective cost-cutting strategy due to the difficulty in communication, sharing of data, and lack of reliability. However, with technology playing the role of an enabler, those factors are no longer a bone of contention.

• Voice Recognition Software Will Become a Key Tool

  As an extension of the first point, the medical transcription industry in 2018 will take an active interest in voice recognition programs. This will greatly help with transcribing audio recordings of doctors' notes, prescriptions, reports, etc. This will also reduce turnaround times for transcription services.

• Technological Advancements to Accelerate

  With the soaring advancements that technology is making in most fields today, the future of the medical transcription industry definitely cannot be left unaffected. It is expected that 2018 is the year in which the medical transcription industry will catch up with the rest of the world in terms of high-end technology. Analog devices, which have essentially been made obsolete with the introduction of digital, are still being used in this industry. All analog devices will be wiped out in 2018, making way for their shiny new digital counterparts. With the move to digital, the methods of storage are also slated to change.

• Trained Medical Transcriptionists Will be in Demand

  With the focus shifting to technology, many employees, especially medical transcriptionists, will be expected to keep themselves updated with the latest technology and tools to stay relevant in the medical transcription industry. "Learn with the industry, grow with the industry" could become an effective strategy for companies to attract and retain talent. The required skill set will no longer be just for basic transcription and medical terminology. It will include proofreading capabilities as well as extending a handover of editing drafts created by voice recognition software in the market.

  • As much as trending software and digitalization helps, the crux of the matter is that it is not 100% accurate. It will become essential for the medical industry to make sure that data and records are created and maintained accurately. For this reason, humans will always be employed to oversee the work of the machines

• Security Measures will be Ramped Up

  The future of the medical transcription industry is riddled with issues and concerns of the transition to digital. The topmost item on the list of every provider of medical transcription services will be the security of such sensitive data. Security costs are likely to go up, however, the necessity of the measures would be clearly evident. This will change the way one would look at medical transcription in 2018 and beyond.

• New Markets will Rise

  India and South-east Asia have always been the top choices when companies decide to outsource medical transcription work. However, with the globalization of data and workforce, the optimal communication methods and the unifying nature of the entire process, a number of new markets will slowly emerge as centers for high-end medical transcription services.

  • Service providers in South America, Eastern Europe, etc. will be able to leverage the availability of highly skilled human resources. For example, the market in South America is close to the US, which will address the requirement of working with companies in the US time zone.
  • In addition, South America has a majority of native speakers of English. Such competitive advantages will make the service providers in South America market an ideal option to outsource. The emergence of such new markets will create healthy competition in the global market, as companies will have more options to choose from with respect to availing medical transcription services.

• New Documentation Formats Will Emerge

  The medical transcription industry in 2018 will take a turn away from the word-processed documents in order to meet the new standards and guidelines for Electronic Health Records (EHR). The new data format has been drastically modified to accommodate room for point-and-click fields, dropdowns, macros, and neatly structured templates. This step in creating standards as per the new guidelines of EHR and will be vital for the future of the medical transcription industry. It will provide a systematic approach to recording and reading data without the need for a backstory.

Flatworld Solutions - Pioneers in Medical Transcription Services

As you see, the future of the medical transcription industry in 2018 is optimistic and full of promises. The role of medical transcription in 2018 is to act as a catalyst to several amazing breakthroughs in the field of science. Hence, it is all the more important for companies to collaborate with the right partner for medical transcription services. Flatworld Solutions has been a leading provider of medical transcription services and a host of other healthcare BPO services to global clients. Some of our transcription services include pathology transcription, emergency room transcription, discharge summary transcription, HL7 transcription, and more.

If you are looking for a reliable, accurate, efficient, and cost-effective medical transcription service provider, then look no further. Get in touch with us today!