Transcription technology has been a part of the medical transcription industry for the past 15 years and has had a profound impact on healthcare services. And the data backs it up: by 2030, the medical transcription market is expected to reach $117.1 billion, demonstrating the healthcare industry’s demand for the support that transcription provides.
Many people turn to AI for affordable transcription, but AI comes with dangerous risks. Although AI has made progress in recent years, human transcriptionists are still needed in medical settings. While AI and human transcriptionists may seem the same at first glance, in reality the similarities are superficial at best. AI transcriptions are not accurate enough and do not understand context, which can slow down your workflow. Additionally, most AI services cannot provide the expertise and confidentiality that human experts provide.
Unmatched precision in medicine
In a survey of more than 136,000 patients, one in five reported finding an error in their records, and 40% described the error as ‘serious.’ Needless to say, accuracy is crucial in healthcare, and misinterpreting a single word or phrase can have serious consequences for patient care.
Experienced transcriptionists understand medical terminology and nuances that can confuse AI systems. Humans understand context, which allows them to distinguish between similar-sounding terms like “hyper” and “hypo,” which have opposite meanings but might sound the same to a robot reviewing the same audio recording.
Human transcribers can also interpret accents, manage crosstalk in multi-speaker situations, and disambiguate – skills necessary to accurately transcribe patient-doctor interactions, medical meetings, and other important discussions.
Human transcribers are also good at capturing subtle nuances in nonverbal communication, such as noticing changes in tone, pauses, gestures, or other physical actions that may be clinically relevant, especially when evaluating video footage. A patient’s hesitation when describing symptoms or a doctor’s emphasis on a particular instruction can be valuable details—details that AI often misses.
Enhance workflow and reduce physician fatigue
In 2023, 48% of physicians will report experiencing burnout. This statistic highlights one of the reasons healthcare providers need solutions that reduce administrative burden.
High-quality transcription services play a key role in streamlining workflows. Fast, accurate transcriptions allow healthcare professionals to spend less time on paperwork and more time focusing on patient care. Fast turnaround times also mean emergency information is available when you need it most. Additionally, these transcriptions can be integrated with electronic health record (EHR) systems, reducing the time doctors spend directly interacting with cluttered EHR interfaces.
A fast, accurate transcription service significantly reduces administrative work for doctors, surgeons, and nurses, allowing them to spend more time with patients and less time interacting with EHRs. AI systems often require extensive proofreading and corrections. Well-performed human-created transcriptions are typically ready to use. This efficiency saves time and reduces stress and burnout for healthcare workers.
Another benefit of human transcriptionists is their ability to adapt to different medical specialties and their unique terminology. From oncology to pediatrics, each field has its own terminology and abbreviations. Experienced transcriptionists can be trained on these terminology and abbreviations, streamlining healthcare worker workflow and precisely tailoring transcriptions to the specific needs of different healthcare sectors.
Ensuring patient confidentiality and HIPAA compliance
In the medical field, patient confidentiality is a requirement of HIPAA, so it is important to understand that human transcribers can provide a level of confidentiality and security that AI systems cannot guarantee.
All licensed professionals working in the healthcare field, including transcriptionists, should be thoroughly trained on HIPAA compliance, and the transcription system itself should be designed with security at its core, limiting access to sensitive information and ensuring all data is only provided to authorized personnel.
Ideally, recordings and transcripts should be restricted to the original uploader and only temporarily accessible to the assigned transcriber during the transcription process. Failure to restrict access creates a dangerous situation where transcribers have unfettered access to large amounts of sensitive patient personal information, increasing the potential for a data leak.
Human transcriptionists also act as a layer of protection against potential data leaks. Unlike AI systems that may store or process data in ways that could compromise security, trained experts can proactively identify and flag potential confidentiality issues. Consider a scenario where a healthcare provider accidentally mentions identifying information that should not be included in the recording. A human transcriptionist can recognize this and, for example, redact the information or alert relevant parties.
The irreplaceable value of human expertise
While AI continues to advance, the healthcare industry requires a level of accuracy, understanding, and confidentiality that only well-trained human transcriptionists can consistently deliver. The human touch supports healthcare professionals and ensures access to accurate, timely, and secure transcription services.
By choosing skilled human transcriptionists, healthcare organizations can improve workflow efficiency and ultimately improve the quality of patient care. Technology may be ubiquitous, but that means it’s more important than ever to recognize areas where human judgment is still essential.
Photo: Philograph, Getty Images
Ben Walker is the founder and CEO of Ditto Transcripts, a leading global provider of transcription services for the healthcare, legal, law enforcement, academic, financial, and general business industries. Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Ben attended Creighton Prep High School in Omaha and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he earned a degree in Economics. After working as a loan officer for about eight years, Ben entered the healthcare industry and co-founded a medical transcription company with three others. After facing major changes in the healthcare industry with the adoption of EHR/EMR and realizing the need to diversify, Ben founded Transcription Outsourcing. This new transcription company serves a variety of industries outside of healthcare. In July 2022, Ben rebranded the company to Ditto Transcripts to better communicate the company’s history and human approach to transcription services.
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