Just for the Record, the MT Business Is Alive and Well
As someone who has spent a fair amount of time over the years perusing online MT forums, I've learned that if there's one thing you can count on in such venues, it's the chronic naysayer. For these folks, the glass isn't just half empty, it fell off the table and smashed to bits. To hear them tell it, the MT field is dying, nobody's making any money, and we all ought to pack up our bags and git out while the gittin's good.
I have no doubt there are some sad stories to be told in our line of work. I know these aren't the "gravy years" of the 80's some folks like to talk about. I know speech recognition technology, point-and-click EMRs and offshore outsourcing have had an undeniable impact on the way we do what we do and how much we get paid for doing it. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of the death of medical transcription have been greatly exaggerated.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've been privileged, over the last 10 years or so, to have been involved in a great many aspects of the MT business. I got my start when my longsuffering wife Carol trained me on the job, in the evenings after I got home from my "real" job as a phlebotomist. I found I had both a knack and a liking for it, and it wasn't too long before I quit my job and went into business with Carol full time. I've said many times, and still say today, that was the best business decision we've ever made, and we've never looked back with regret.
Since that time I've seen pretty much every side of the business there is to see: independent contractor, production MT for MedQuist, mom-and pop MT service owner, management for regional and national services, software and hardware sales and development, consulting, organizing, volunteering, you name it. But at the end of the day I'm still a working MT; last week I transcribed 85 radiology reports without a foot pedal. (I kid you not; I deserve some kind of MT combat medal.) And as a working MT at heart, I'm telling you, you can still make a living in this business.
The people I know in this business-service owners large and small, ICs, production MTs who are good at what they do-are busy, sometimes with more business than they can handle. There is plenty of work out there. Does it pay as well as it used to? No. Do you have to work smarter AND harder? Yes. Is this a good career field for the faint of heart or the weary of hand? No. Does this job cater to the lazy or the whining? NO! But from where I stand, looking at what's happening in a lot of other industries, this has got to be the closest thing to a recession-proof business as you can find right now. Maybe we ought not to be too quick to jump out of this particular frying pan....
Please don't hear what I'm not saying. I don't deny there are problems in this field, like clients who want something for nothing, service owners who take advantage of their people, salespeople who'll promise anything to get the contract, and MTs who don't give a darn about quality and wouldn't look something up on Google if their lives depended on it. But in spite of all that, I've never been prouder of what I do, nor more optimistic about the future of this industry. Say nay all you want, I say if you're willing to work hard and if you care enough to get it right, it's a great day to be an MT!