MT India Newsletter - http://www.MTIndia.org/

Feb 07, 2009
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Medical Transcription sector to boom despite recession

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Dear Friends,

Here are some interesting excerpts from Business Standard -
"Medical Transcription sector to boom despite recession - report"

<Despite global economic downtrend, the Medical Transcription (MT)
industry is looking for a further growth buoyed by a report of the
NASSCOM stating that recession has not hit the healthcare industry.

Reverse is the trend in medical transcription outsourcing in the
US, which is witnessing agonising attrition in large scale in IT,
financial, manufacturing and other sectors.

As per a NASSCOM report, the MT industry will be worth Rs 40
billion by 2010 and could employ as many as 50,000 people. It
predicts that this industry is here to stay for at least 10 years.

It estimated the size of the US MT industry, which is in the range
of around $ 12 million in 2005, would reach $ 16.8 billion by 2010.
The work offshored was expected to be in the region of $ 860
million in 2010, of which India is expected to capture $ 647
million. India remained a preferred offshore destination primarily
due to availability of manpower and industry maturity.

The report also expected the employee strength of 18,000 in 2006 in
India-based MT vendors would reach 52,000 by 2010. For an industry
that witnessed too much crowding, too fast in India, a report
conducted by US-based Stevens International Consulting expected the
value of MT outsourcing in the US to double by 2005 to $ 4 billion.
India could take as much as two-thirds of that increase, providing
work to 45,000 transcribers.>

<Currently there are around 300 MT companies including training
institutes in India, employing about 50,000. Mysore houses around
25 MT firms (including Mom n Pop set ups). However, the major
companies, which provide MT services, are only two - Software
Paradigm International (SPI) and Acusis. Approximately, there are
around a thousand employees.>

<In India, MT business is 3-4 years old. Bangalore pioneered, the
Healthscribe India setting up the first MT company. In USA, where
it is a well-established industry, it is 25 years old. Low cost,
reliable telecommunication links, abundant, qualified, low cost,
human resources, second-largest English-speaking workforce in the
world, abundant supply of college graduates - 2.1 million graduates
and 0.3 million post-graduates per year, about 12 hours time zone
difference with US, less operating cost in India - 20 per cent vis
a vis the US, reliable, low cost datacom bandwidth available on
demand (for clients needing online connectivity), industry-friendly
government and labour laws provide enough job opportunities in
medical transcription.>

Unfortunately the report doesn't clarify on the exact source of
information and some errors are quite glaring. Maybe its time the
industry starts publishing its own reports.

To read the entire feature, go to:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/medical-transcription-sector-to-boom\
-despite-recession-report/18/45/347988/

Cheers!

Dr Amit Chatterjee, SM
Strategist / Founder
MT India ~ www.mtindia.org
"The Community of MT Professionals"

"It takes years to become an overnight success! Inch by inch, it's
a cinch."

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) The Dark Side of Medical Transcription?

The Tale of the Rubber Checks

Joan Edwards (not her real name), like Trudy Schaefer Looney, got
into transcription on a whim 14 years ago. "It was sort of by
fluke," she said. "I basically trained myself. I started out with a
doctor and his wife. It was a brand new practice, and we sort of
trained each other."

Edwards worked there for 4 years until the clinic closed due to
lack of business. She moved on from there, getting her own accounts
and working directly for clinics. Everything in her MT world was
fine until she started working for a medical transcription service
organization (MTSO) 2 years ago.  The warning signs were there. The
company said it would get direct deposit for its 120 MTs
nationwide. It didn't. The promised health care coverage never
showed up. A notice was sent out by the company saying that 10
oncology MTs quit, all in the same day. And MTs were forbidden by
the company from contacting each other, even if they worked on the
same accounts. Also, a lot of times Edwards and other MTs saw
discrepancies in the line counts. They thought they typed more
lines than they were paid for, but the only way to prove it would
be to purchase the company's own line counting software, which
would cost a hefty $300.

Despite the early warning signs that the company might not have
been the best, Edwards was always paid on time--at least up until 3
months ago. She walked into the company's bank with a check, and
the teller didn't even look at the amount. "She looked at the
company name and she just shook her head. I said, 'Why are you
shaking your head?' She answered, 'There's insufficient funds,'"
Edwards recalled.

Edwards admitted she put up with the bounced checks and other
problems for too long. She liked the clinic she transcribed for,
and was familiar with the doctors. She felt resistant to change,
until it became unbearable to stick with the company. The lesson
here: don't wait around. If you're experiencing a similar
situation, it's not likely that things are going to improve. There
are good MT companies out there. Find one and don't be afraid to
make the change.

Another lesson out of Edwards' issues is to thoroughly research
before starting a job with a company. She checked on chat sites in
the MT world before starting work for the company, but didn't find
much information. Now Edwards and others who worked for the company
peruse message boards to try to help other MTs steer clear. If a
transcription company has a bad reputation, chances are that
reputation will get out on the Internet, and MTs looking for jobs
can use that resource. Another tip is to speak with MTs already
working for the company you're thinking of working for. If a
company isn't comfortable letting you speak to its MTs, that might
be a red flag.

http://health-information.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?cc=192\
551

2) MT Business Is Alive and Well!
by Jay Vance

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.

he 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....

http://community.advanceweb.com/blogs/hi_9/archive/2009/01/27/just-for-the-recor\
d-the-mt-business-is-alive-and-well.aspx

3) Great Falls Clinic lays off 42 medical transcriptionists

The Great Falls Clinic announced Wednesday that it will lay off its
42 full-time-equivalent medical transcriptionists, but those
employees will have the opportunity to apply and test for positions
with the company to which the clinic will outsource its
transcription services.

The clinic is outsourcing its medical transcription services to
Massachusetts-based Nuance Healthcare, which will decrease costs
and decrease turnaround times for medical records, according to a
clinic representative. Because of the high demand for medical
transcriptionists, Geannine Rapp Purpura, spokeswoman for the
clinic, said she is confident clinic employees will be hired by
Nuance if they apply. The decision to outsource comes after months
of research and careful consideration, according to a release from
the Great Falls Clinic.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090129/BUSINESS/901290306

4) Spheris Renews Transcription Agreement with VHA Inc.

Spheris announced that it has renewed its agreement with VHA Inc.,
the national health care alliance, to provide VHA members with a
full range of clinical documentation technologies and
industry-leading outsource services.Under the terms of the new
agreement, Spheris will be one of two VHA-preferred medical
transcription providers through December 2011.

"Spheris has provided great value in outsourced transcription to
our members for the last seven years," said Amy Anthony, senior
vice president for VHA’s supply chain services. “In the face of
economic uncertainty, it is now even more critical for our member
hospitals to uncover cost savings in their operations. Today,
Spheris is using technology – such as back-end speech recognition –
to both drive down costs and provide new tools that help ensure a
high level of quality and physician satisfaction.”

“Technology is allowing Spheris to process medical reports more
quickly, more accurately and more cost effectively, but the service
component is equally as important,” said Tony James, chief
operating officer at Spheris. “We are constantly improving the
clinical documentation process through our extensive global
resources of people, processes and technology.”

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/spheris-renews-transcription-agreement-w\
ith-vha-inc,678362.shtml

5) Azimuth Expands its Medical Transcription Operation in Chennai
and Announces Search for Best Talents

Azimuth with operations in Pondicherry and Chennai announced the
opening of a new office in Chennai Egmore and strong recruitment.
“We are hiring 50 of the best MT professionals in Chennai to join
our new Egmore center.” says Terry Leger, CEO of Azimuth. “We are
also hiring home based medical transcriptionists as many MTs are
opting to work from home now” he adds.

The company does not see a slow down in its market, despite the
tough conditions in the US. “At the contrary”, says Mr. Leger, “our
rigorous attention to quality standards is insuring strong demand
for our services and continuous growth even during this market
slow-down.”

The company has developed an efficient way to train people on
campus or online from home and hire then after. The Azimuth
opportunity to study and work from home has been usefully adopted
by many already. “Our work-from-home program is doing well and we
guarantee employment after training!” underlines Terry Leger.

http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressRelease.asp?b2mid=18025

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The MTIndia Team