Medical transcription is a $12 billion industry, and qualified medical transcriptionists (MTs) are in short supply. One reason for the demand is our aging population. Not only do older people require more health care (which creates a greater need for transcription), but most MTs are between the ages of forty and sixty.  But according to a spokesman for the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) “Everyone agrees we’re about to hit a crisis point. Over half of the MTs are approaching retirement.”

Some companies are turning to foreign labor to pick up the slack. The medical transcritpion Industry Association (MTIA) estimates that somewhere between 8% and 10% of all contract transcription is done overseas, or about 4-5% of all transcriptions.

The relatively low percentage of off-shore work is due to a number of factors, but fluency in English is the primary one. One industry insider characterized the off-shore transcription services as a “giant voice recognition device” because the quality/accuracy just isn’t there.

Overseas rates are going up too, particularly in India, because they’ve realized that they can demand higher prices thanks to growing need and scarce availability of experienced MTs. In fact, many of the off-shore transcriptionists are actually medical doctors who find they can make more money in their country transcribing than they could practicing medicine.

The outlook for MT jobs is beginning to be influenced by some MTSOs who are partnering with speech technology companies. The technology may increase costs by 15% to 20%, but it can increase output 100% to 200% according to one MTSO owner. This improvement allows them to squeeze more margin out of the work. In the short term, however, speech recognition as a back-end solution probably will just change the way transcriptionists work by shifting the emphasis from transcription to editing, and won’t eliminate the need for MTs.

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are predicted to be widespread in 10 years, and transactional patient data will be entered in real or near-real time, but the narrative portion of medical records will still need be handled by transcriptionists—or voice recognition when it becomes a viable front-end solution.

But make no mistake, medical transcription is a knowledge-based profession that requires extensive medical training and on-site experience before you can start to do it from home. Don’t fall for the outrageous scams that offer a few month training, a bogus certificate no one accepts, and a list of customers for a few hundred dollars. Check with AHDI to see if the school your considering has been aapproved.

Derek Slap, spokesman for Democractic Connecticut State Senate President Donald Williams said, “We always knew the Republicans were phoning it in; now they want to make it official policy.” What’s his beef?

Seems the Democrats have their nose out of joint because the Connecticut Republican leader Lawrence Cafero has proposed a telecommuting plan, and they didn’t think of it first. At least that’s what I gather from a piece Christopher Keating wrote today in the Hartford CT Courant.

In fact, of 50,000 Connecticut state employees only 140 telecommute. Our numbers suggest something like 40% could.

But Slap doesn’t seem to have a clue, “”The reality is that the GOP plan would not save taxpayers any money and would not ease congestion. In fact, the only people the plan would help would be Republican caucus staff members.”

Really? “A good starting place would be to document how much money a telecommuting plan might save taxpayers,” Slap said, according to Keating.

Okay, using national average numbers for time and distances for the commute, and $4/gallon for the price of gas, if 5,000 Connecticut employees started telecommuting it would save over 1.1 million gallons of gas or almost 4.5 million dollars in fuel bills. State employees are taxpayers, remember.

On top of that Cafero said he commutes two hours and ten minutes to and from work, and drives 75 miles. If he telecommuted just one day a week, taxpayers would get almost 3 weeks (14 work days) more work from him.

Then add increased productivity of between 5% and 40% (depending on what study results you accept) for anyone who works at home, and there’s a pretty compeling case for telework regardless of whos idea it is.

Connecticut, in fact, should take a page from the Federal Government book on telecommuting that will soon require federal agencies to assume employees can telecommute unless it is documented that the job isn’t suited for it—a reversal of the old manadate that said all agencies should telecommute to the maximum extent possible, but you had to prove the job was suited.

Deb Perelman over at ZDnet posted a blog last week titled “What your boss hates about telecommuting.” She argues that

1. Telecommuting is often poorly defined.
2. Not every company, or job role or individual is cut out for remote work.
3. There is no substitute for face-to-face interaction.

Can’t argue with any of those points, in general. But she doesn’t seem to understand some of the fundamentals of telecommuting.

Telecommuting, like any other business method, needs to be understood and managed. If it’s poorly defined then someone isn’t doing their job. Furthermore, if anyone thinks that telecommuting simply means not driving to the office, that you should be at your desk just as if you were in the office, then some education is in order. In the office and at home results are what matter not sitting at a desk from 9 to 5. If you or management can’t define your work in terms of product, not process, the definition problem goes deeper than just telecommuting.

She quotes Susan Harkins at Tech Republic’s Tech of All Trades blog in defense of her second point: “…Technical support can be awkward. IT has never made a house call to my house.” But tech support using remote desktop software and other more sophisticated tools means that most tech support solutions will work at home. Obviously if your job depends on technology and you don’t have a clue how to do what’s necessary to keep it working there’s a problem that isn’t a telecommuting issue.

While the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem may be an issue in old style companies, modern companies actively embrace the advantages of e-work. The three founders of the hugely successful mySQL (24 million installations, 50,000 downloads a day)), for example, each live in a different country. Today their 400+ employees live in 26 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

UC Gaining Traction in Asia SDA Asia Magazine, Singapore - Jul 21, 2008 81% of respondents in the study agreed or strongly agreed that telecommuting improves productivity, compared to only 61% in 2005. The increase in positive …SIN:U18 - EPA:MLACO

table border=0 valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7>

First Gilmore and Warner debate focuses on trust, energy policy Virginian Pilot, VA - Jul 19, 2008 … down on commodities speculators have made billions driving up crude oil prices, expanded fuel mileage standards and greater use of telecommuting. …

Broadband still lacking in Oregon Gresham Outlook, OR - Jul 19, 2008 Growing numbers of commuters are jumping off Interstate 5 to telecommute efficiently from their homes, keeping our communities greener by reducing traffic …

Companies find benefits in benefits Marketplace, CA - Jul 19, 2008 There are some organizations that have started to implement telecommuting, or flexible schedule options such as four-day work weeks, for example, …

Jerry Brown’s War on California Suburbs Wall Street Journal - Jul 18, 2008 Mr. Brown would be better off embracing telecommuting and other ideas to cut suburban commutes that accommodate the majority’s dreams and preferences. …

California Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Drops … FOXBusiness - Jul 18, 2008 Forward-thinking employers are already in the process of implementing condensed work weeks and offering telecommuting options to their employees in an …SFN - OTC:CMTX

Finding the right pet sitter eases stress Providence Journal, RI - Jul 18, 2008 Heather Galler founded her company, JobKite.com, where workers are encouraged to telecommute from home and be with their pets. Other employers welcome pets …