If you are considering a career in medical transcription (MT), it could be the right choice. A recent report from Transparency Market Research says that the value of the global market for medical transcription services is expected to touch a value of USD 60.6 million by 2019 from the level of USD 41.4 million in 2012. The MT market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% during the next 6 years.
This positive forecast augurs well for freelance medical transcriptionists, medical transcription companies and various stakeholders in countries such as India, the Philippines and other Asian nations which are major BPO hubs providing MT solutions for healthcare providers. A professional medical transcription company with transcriptionists having in-depth knowledge of medical terminologies and skills in transcribing medical reports accurately and quickly can expect to see a rise in demand for their services. With the increasing stress on the security of patient information, they must also have a proper awareness of security issues such as HIPAA compliance.
Medical transcriptionists would need to be experienced in transcribing the following types of reports:
- Consultation Report (CONSULTS)
- Operative Note or Report (OP)
- History and Physical Report (H&P)
- Discharge Summary (DS)
- Radiology Report (X-rays or radiographs))
- Others (Pathology Report (PATH)
Consult repots are expected to witness a CAGR of 3.3% during 2013-2019 and are likely to have a market value of USD 21.1 million in 2019. The reason why consult reports will do better than the other categories is that they are produced every time an individual patient under treatment visits the specialist. The share of H&P reports in the MT service market is also growing due to the fact that they are now created for both inpatients as well as outpatients so as to minimize reimbursement issues.
The growth of the medical transcription industry is being driven by several factors: infrastructural initiatives taken up by governments, adoption of electronic health record systems in developed nations, automation of healthcare operations, and focus on providing quality, speedy access to health care.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, 2013 and rise in aging population will drive the medical transcription services market in North America, which is already in the leading position. The market value of MT services in North America was over USD 18 million in the past and is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% over the period studied.
