In 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) introduced measures that lay a groundwork for the widespread adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) within medical institutions. Electronic medical records are a digital files containing health information about patients that are typically filled out by doctors.

With these electronic medical records now mandated by Obamacare, does that leave any room for flesh and blood medical transcriptionists? Medical transcription is the process of converting voice-recorded reports dictated by healthcare professionals into text format. The transcription industry has faced threats before, such as outsourcing and voice recognition software, but the mandated EMRs are likely to reshape the whole transcription industry.

Almost everyone agrees that completely electronic records will never eradicate the need for medical transcription. Instead, experts say that future transcriptionists will simply need to augment their existing skill set with new EMR structure knowledge. The job will evolve with technology, just like every other industry must.  Accurate health documentation is a must, and the human touch is still needed when it comes to doing so.

For more information, see How EMR is Going to Affect Medical Transcription Industry