I Don't Think I'm in Kansas Anymore

Not disillusioned at all, Claudia. I'm very excited to find an alternate path that builds on the MT skills I already have, and thought my post focused more on how much I'm digging the infinitely more detailed education I'm getting.

I admit I'm disillusioned in the employment prospects and the fact that MT is more centered around the bottom line than ever before--and always at the expense of the people who work hardest for the least money. Of course, the same can be said of the American corporate mentality in general. It's just that it happens to hit us hard where we live.

I don't view these all-encompassing changes of SR and EMR as any huge improvements to our benefit, for the most part. A well-utilized expander does more for us without cheating us out of half our pay. I think the industry is being led by software developers and not what's really best for us, best for dictators, and certainly not best for the patient in the end. Guess I need to get myself some of those rose-colored AAMT glasses to get the proper perky attitude.

Jeanne you sound so disillusioned!  We are not a dying breed, there are still avenues to pursue in the field of Medical Transcription, even with the trend toward speech recognition.   Due to the the necessity of investing millions in an EMR, hospitals are experiencing enormous financial deficits and are eliminating layers of management by combining responsibilities and laying off managers, directors, and vice presidents.  The need for accurate documentation for patient care, and reimbursement has come to the forefront.  Many institutions are recognizing the value of employing a remote transcription staff and utilizing the tool of speech recognition as a mean of achieving patient safety due to quality, efficiency, and the opportunity to receive a return on investment from increased TAT, immediate availability to coders, faster reimbursement, and an ultimate goal of eliminating outsourcing.  Speech also has the potential to decrease injuries and lower costs in Worker's Compensation, as well as create longevity in employment.  There is a need to develop a new attitude toward speech, changing from a victim, to accepting the challenge of mastering a new skill set to equal and surpass your skills as a traditional transcriptionist.  There will always be traditional transcriptionists particularly since speech is a skill mastered by those new to the field, and there are many providers who are not speech recognized for a variey of reasons.  Speech is not going to force the occupation to become obsolete, quite the contrary, more than ever there is a need for human intervention since we cannot rely on intuitive speech engines.  These engines are similar to outsourcing to the Phillipines or India.  They are capable of learning "medical terminology" as one would learn a foreign language, and can be efficient in the "objective" terms, but the shortcomings are apparent in the "subjective language," slang, culture, as well as the ambiguity of medical terminology.  All of these present a threat to patient safety, and thus the ever present need for editors with "real intellect."  In this capacity we continue to witness advances in medicine through the stories of patient illness and treatment, continue to be enriched in understanding the human condition, and maintain the ability to improve and expand our vocabularies as language specialists.

My original training was as a medical record technician, now referred to as a Registered Health information Technologist.  I continued my education beyond the associate's degree and chose many science courses such as pathophysiology, microbiology, chemistry, updated A&P, management and psychology.  All of these have served me well and added pleasure to my job as I traveled through the body and it's illnesses with an understanding.   I have been in the field for 40 years experiencing acute care hospitals, multispecialty clinics, Federal hospitals and clinics, and MTSOs.  I have discovered there are many positions to aspire to within the occupation.  I began as an acute care transcriptionist, worked as a Lead, an Editor, QA and QA Supervisor, Educator, Manager in several transcription companies, hospital Supervisor, Implementation Specialist, and now an Application Administrator in the selection and implementation of an Enterprise Solution for voice and text in a large trauma hospital.  

This career has not always been rewarding in prestige and compensation, but has never failed me in knowledge of medicine, people, and technology.  In the past I had taken my profession for granted until people began to understand what I actually did, and expressed an admiration for the wealth of information I possess as a medical language specialist, as well as my ability to navigate around the medical system.  

Medical transcriptionists are at a premium and have more potential than many to secure a position in these times of layoff and unemployment.   As with any occupation, it involves commitment and goals.  Perhaps the reason services appear as "sweat shops" is due to the lack of availability of transcriptionists because many have dropped out to pursue other careers.  Schools have been notorious for their sales pitch of the ability to make large amounts of money while remaining in the home with your children, having the best of both worlds.  What they fail to emphasize is that working remote does not negate a structured and focused workday that is more demanding or discipline than working on site.  That an isolation exists and that it is difficult to share and bond with co-workers, receive affirmation from your supervisor, feel connection to the patient, or develop a true commitment to the company you are working for.  I am convinced our employers should be the hospitals, and that the investment of speech recognition is a step toward more hospitals retaining their own staff of medical transcriptionists.