Are Medical Transcription's Days Numbered?
From a post on MTChat.com:
I think MTs are going to start losing actual real jobs a whole heap
sooner in greater numbers than most of us are willing to admit is
already happening.
It is happening here in our area now and we
do have a pretty good working knowledge of what the employment outlook
for MTs is here given the client base we have. Getting hired here now
is 10 times harder than it has ever been. No one is hiring new staff.
No one is adding employees ... no one is picking up ICs ... they are
shifting the bulk and burden of what work is left to existing staff
only and making do with what they have ... and of course, letting folks
go as the accounts continue to automate and walk out the door, usually
with no warning. Its has been going on steadily for the last couple of
years, it is just that no one really openly talked about it until
lately.
I think MTs, especially long-term stay at home
independents like you or I, are going to have to start accepting that
we have hit the place where there are no choices but to start lowering
expectations of what we think the real worth of MT is in the process of
medical documentation to stay employed or to doing work that
essentially is what I consider as data entry for lower pay. Either that
or transition/train for some other field of work as quickly as they
can. Two really ugly choices, but that is what is happening here in my
area and I doubt that is really any different in other areas of the
country. New ones just starting out are not going to know any different
because they are gonna be lucky to get hired at all, and, if hired it
will be at the ever-dropping rates that are now the norm not the
exception.
I've
been an optimist when it comes to the future of MT even after many of
my colleagues were expressing ever more pessimistic views about the
state of the industry. However, lately I've had cause to revisit my
opinions on this issue, although for different reasons than those
voiced by Renee Priest above. My growing conviction is that it will be
enforcement of HIPAA, given dramatically more muscle by the recently
passed HITECH legislation, that may very well spell the end for small
MTSOs and independent contractors. In following posts I'll be examining
in greater detail the specifics of the new requirements for business
associates under HIPAA/HITECH, but suffice it to say for now that life
as we know it for mom-and-pop operations is about to get a whole lot
more complicated.
In the meantime, I'd be very interested to hear
if others are experiencing or observing circumstances similar to those
voiced by Nae Priest. Please post your thoughts in the comments section
here, thanks.