Over the past 15 years of serving the medical transcription industry, transcription technology has had a huge impact on healthcare services. And the data backs it up. The medical transcription market is expected to reach $117.1 billion by 2030, which shows the healthcare industry’s need for the support that transcription provides.
While many are turning to AI for affordable transcripts, AI carries dangerous risks. AI has made progress in the past few years, but human transcribers are essential in healthcare settings. Transcripts from AI and human transcribers may seem the same at first glance, but in reality, the similarities are superficial at best. AI transcription efforts lack accuracy and contextual understanding, which can slow down workflows. Additionally, most AI services lack the expertise and confidentiality that human experts provide.
Unrivaled accuracy in a medical context
In a study of more than 136,000 patients, 1 in 5 reported finding an error in their records, and 40% described the error as “serious.” Needless to say, in healthcare, accuracy is key, as one misinterpreted word or phrase can have serious consequences for patient care.
Experienced transcribers understand medical terminology and nuances that can confuse an AI system. Humans understand context, which helps them distinguish between similar-sounding—but different—terms like “hyper” and “hypo.” These prefixes have opposite meanings but could sound similar to a robot reviewing the same audio recordings.
Transcribers can also interpret accents, handle crosstalk in multiple-speaker situations, and clarify ambiguities — skills essential for accurately transcribing patient-doctor interactions, medical conferences, and other important discussions.
And human transcribers are also adept at picking up on the subtleties of nonverbal communication, especially when evaluating video footage, noticing changes in tone, pauses, gestures, or other physical actions that might be clinically significant. A patient’s hesitation in describing symptoms or a doctor’s emphasis on certain instructions can be valuable details—but they’re details that AI often won’t pick up on.
Improving workflow and reducing physician burnout
In 2023, 48% of physicians reported burnout. This statistic underscores one reason why healthcare providers need solutions that ease administrative burdens.
High-quality transcription services play an important role in streamlining workflows. Fast, accurate transcriptions allow healthcare providers to focus more on patient care and less on paperwork. The ability to deliver fast turnaround times also means that urgent information is available when it’s needed most. What’s more, these transcripts can integrate with electronic health record (EHR) systems, reducing the time clinicians spend interacting directly with cumbersome EHR interfaces.
Fast, accurate transcription services can drastically reduce the administrative work of doctors, surgeons, and nurses, giving them more time with patients and less time interacting with EHRs. AI systems often require extensive proofreading and editing. Well-made, human-generated transcripts are typically ready immediately. This efficiency saves time and helps reduce stress and burnout for healthcare workers.
Another advantage of human transcribers is their ability to adapt to different healthcare specialties and their unique terminology. From oncology to pediatrics, each field has its own jargon and acronyms. Experienced transcribers can be trained in this area, streamlining workflow for healthcare workers and ensuring that transcriptions are tailored precisely to the specific needs of different medical departments.
Ensuring patient confidentiality and HIPAA compliance
In the healthcare industry, patient confidentiality is a HIPAA requirement. Therefore, it is important to understand that human transcribers offer a level of discretion and security that AI systems often cannot guarantee.
All qualified professionals working in the healthcare industry must be thoroughly trained in HIPAA compliance, including transcribers. And transcription systems themselves should be designed with security at their core, limiting access to sensitive information to ensure that all data is shared only with authorized personnel.
Ideally, recordings and transcripts should be restricted to the original uploading user and only temporarily accessible to the assigned transcriber during the transcription process. Failure to restrict access creates a risky scenario where transcribers have unrestricted access to a significant amount of confidential, private patient information, increasing the likelihood of data leaks.
And human transcribers can also serve as a layer of protection against potential data breaches. Unlike AI systems, which can store or process data in ways that could compromise security, trained professionals can proactively identify and flag potential confidentiality issues. Consider a scenario in which a healthcare provider accidentally mentions identifying information that shouldn’t be in the record. A human transcriber can recognize this and can, for example, redact the information or notify the appropriate parties.
The irreplaceable value of human expertise
As AI continues to evolve, the healthcare industry requires a level of accuracy, understanding, and confidentiality that only highly trained human transcribers can consistently provide. The human touch empowers healthcare providers by providing them with accurate, timely, and secure transcription services.
By choosing skilled human transcriptionists, healthcare organizations can improve the efficiency of their workflow 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 remains essential.
Photo: Filograph, Getty Images
Ben Walker is the founder and CEO of Ditto Transcripts, a leading global provider of transcription services to the healthcare, legal, law enforcement, academic, financial, and general business industries. Ben was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, attending Creighton Prep High School in Omaha and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. After nearly eight years as a credit union officer, Ben entered the healthcare industry by co-founding a medical transcription company with three others. Recognizing the need to diversify in the face of significant changes in the healthcare industry due to the adoption of EHR/EMR, Ben founded Transcription Outsourcing. This new transcription company would serve a variety of industries beyond healthcare. In July 2022, Ben changed the company name to Ditto Transcripts to better convey the company’s story and human approach to transcription services.
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