Evolution of medical transcription services and companies

Medical transcription services have indeed come a long way and evolved considerably since the sixties of the last century when this segment of the medical sector was in its infancy. And with the progression of medical transcription services, medical transcription companies have also come of age. The technique of transcription was originally conceptualized to aid in the production processes of sundry manufacturing entities. The method of transcription then was not versatile enough to serve the healthcare sector. 

Traditionally medical reports or records of miscellaneous patients visiting physicians in public and private hospitals, medical centers and clinics for a routine check up or undergoing an operation or surgery were either manually typed or handwritten. The medical files of patients visiting the OPD (outpatient department) of a hospital together with those convalescing at the medical setup post surgery were physically stored in filing cabinets. 

When a patient visited the hospital for a repeat consultation (as recommended by his or her physician), the specific patient’s medical dossier had to be recovered from the cabinet so that the medic could review the patient’s progress. With the passage of time, the entire system of maintaining records went in for a total overhaul as it became cumbersome to sustain and preserve the storage of a burgeoning number of patients in a physical form. 

As the equipment conventionally used for transcription changed, the methods of recording and maintenance of medical reports changed concomitantly. At the outset, manual typewriters were used, and then came electronic typewriters which gave way to word processors that were replaced by computers. The modus operandi of maintaining health reports has gone electronic. 

Nowadays, health care professionals like doctors, surgeons, and nurses when visiting hospitals record their patient checkups and operations or surgeries in a digital format. These digitalized formats are sent to medical transcription companies and transcription service providers that are processed and transcribed by medical transcriptionists or MTs. 

Speech or voice recognition softwares are also extensively used for transcription alongside MTs and Quality Analysers (QAs). The patient’s medical details that are dictated by the physician is transformed into text documents and sent back to the individual or institutional client in the specified turnaround time asked for by the client.      

The present scenario in the medical transcription industry

The realm of medical transcription as a vertical of the healthcare sector encompasses a diverse range of services including but not limited to basic MT services, Saas (Software as a Service) functionalities, medical coding, billing and collection services. Medical transcription services are highly sought after by a wide spectrum of medical establishments throughout the world. 

The need and demand for maintaining electronic or digital medical records has gone up tremendously in Europe and North America. In USA, Canada, Australia, India, EEC countries and several other countries, medical transcription is big business and a flourishing industry. In USA alone, the MT sector is approximately valued at over $30 billion annually and growing phenomenally at over 15 % every year.

Amidst such an optimistic scenario, Divine Mercy Transcription or DivineMT as it is more popularly known has been at the helm rendering fast and exceptional services to an assorted group of medical establishments in Australia, Canada, India, UK, and New Zealand. It is a MT firm with a global reputation that has been furnished transcription services in the medical disciplines of cardiology, anesthesiology, radiology, gynaecology and many other streams.