For the Health of IT

As mentioned in a recent post, in celebration of National Medical Transcriptionist Week, May 20-26, we’re featuring a few Q&A’s with some of the leaders on our Nuance Transcription Services (NTS) Team.  We’d like to take this time to thank our NTS team again for all they do to ensure we provide superior clinical documentation services to our customers and the patients they look after.

Our final Q&A in this series is with Natalie Fluhr from Catlin, Illinois.  She’s been a medical transcriptionist (MT) for approximately 25 years.

What made you want to become an MT?

I have always enjoyed biology and science classes.  I was not sure I wanted to be a nurse but wanted to stay in the medical field so chose the medical secretarial field.  Went to college, got a two-year degree and was fortunate enough to get an MT job.  Twenty-five years later I am still in the industry. 

What’s your favorite aspect of your job?

I absolutely enjoy doing surgical reports.  I have always enjoyed surgeries, they are interesting and I enjoy all the technical aspects of surgeries.  I am also very thankful I have been able to do my job from home to be available for my family.

How has the medical transcription industry changed since you first started?

When I started out as an MT, I was typing on a little Panasonic Memory type writer.  You could type about four lines of text in the memory and back space and edit it before printing it out onto the paper.  Of course, the screen you were looking at only showed about half a line of text at a time.  Also everything was done on cassette tapes, the big cassette tapes and a few on the little micro cassette tapes. 

How has technology helped you to do your MT role better?

I do not have to have entire bookcase filled with medical reference books.  With the internet, we have access to many reference materials online or on a CD.  We also have access to look up brand names of equipment or drugs directly from the manufacturers. 

How do you expect the MT industry to change further over the next five to ten years?

I definitely see the MT roll changing some over the next few years.  I think there will always be a need for some MTs in certain situations, but with these younger physicians and providers being raised on technology and being very tech savvy they are more inclined to dictate and edit their own dictations; they are not afraid or intimidated by a computer.  Also, with more and more hospitals and clinics going to electronic medical records, many institutions are going to templates in order to document certain aspects of a patient’s chart.

In celebration of National Medical Transcriptionist Week, May 20-26, we’re featuring a few Q&A’s with some of the leaders on our Nuance Transcription Services (NTS) Team.  We’d like to take this time to thank our NTS team for their hard work and continued commitment to superior clinical documentation and the capture of a complete, accurate patient narrative. 

Today’s Q&A is with Melissa Post from Sayre, Pennsylvania.  She’s been a medical transcriptionist (MT) for approximately 30 years.

What made you want to become an MT?

I didn’t choose medical transcription; it chose me.  I graduated from college with a degree in communications and a concentration in corporate communication in healthcare.  MT was not at all what I had in mind, but it was a job that was available, and I was hired.  I learned the skill set necessary for this profession in a small hospital where I received one-on-one training and mentoring.  As new technologies emerged and the demand for the profession skyrocketed, I got caught up in it and never looked back!

What’s your favorite aspect of your job?

• I learn something new every single day. 
• The practice of medicine and the technology used in healthcare documentation are changing rapidly.  I find that continually adapting my skill set and learning new ways to serve my clients better is challenging and satisfying.

How has the medical transcription industry changed since your first started?

The only thing that HASN’T changed is our commitment to quality and providing accurate, accessible patient documentation…

• Technology has afforded us better tools to do our jobs.
• The business climate has changed, and we have shifted from primarily on-site, hospital-based departments to medical documentation specialty services, with a great percentage of the workforce working from home.  As such, we need to be more technologically savvy (and adaptive) than ever. 
• Access to limitless reference resources has allowed us to do our jobs more efficiently, but has also demanded that we be excellent time managers.

 How has technology helped you to do your MT role better?

I think the most striking benefit has been instant access to information, and the “absence of obsolescence.”  The science of medicine moves so quickly that any print reference material, by definition, instantly becomes obsolete.  With access to on-line resources, often the same ones clinicians use, I can find immediate answers to questions that I have and can complete my work more efficiently, thus providing better service to my customers. 

How do you expect the MT industry to change further over the next five to ten years?

Technology creates opportunities.  Healthcare institutions and clinicians are riding a wave of awesome technology into a future that includes meaningful use, data mining and quality analytics….all in an effort deliver better health care, more efficiently and cost-effectively, with better results for their patients.  Healthcare documentation specialists are in the perfect position to utilize their skills along with these emerging technologies to manage, organize and ensure the integrity – and privacy – of patient data.