Philippines Becoming Leader in Medical Transcription
Philippines Eyes Becoming Leader in Medical Transcription
The Philippines is poised to become a leader in medical transcription in Asia through its participation to the six-day American Health and Information Management Association (AHIMA) Conference and Exhibition that ended on Thursday in San Diego, California.
Trade Assistant Secretary Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes said the Philippine participation in AHIMA reflects the industry’s move to further expand its services in the American market.
The possibilities for the Philippine medical transcription industry are tremendous. The country has a large, steady pool of highly trainable, English-speaking workforce. This industry currently accounts for 10 per cent of the total MT work outsourced to Asia.
At present, there are more than 40 MT companies in the Philippines, employing more than 3,000 individuals and delivering the following transcription work: data conversion, digital transcription and business transcription.
Based on the data from the Philippine IT Offshore Network (PITON), the Philippines was awarded the largest, single medical contract ever (250,000 lines per day) in 2003.
The Philippine product and services have a solid reputation for quality. We will leverage this in AHIMA including our close affiliation with the American people and their culture, said Gil Pinga, director of Philippine operations of SPI Healthcare Documentation Inc. and SPI Technologies Inc.
Meanwhile, Juanloz Botor, president and CEO of Text Switch Unlimited, Inc. said, AHIMA participants likewise hope to gain exposure to available new technology (gadgets, software) in medical transcription out in the market.
The Philippine delegation to AHIMA is composed of medical transcription companies that are also members of the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines Inc. (MTIAPI).
These companies are: Advanced MT Data Services Inc., DataMed Transcription Solutions Inc., eData Services Philippines, Inc., Global Data Processing, Inc., Ibiz Outsource Technology Inc., International Center for Medical Transcription, Medscribe Asia, Inc., MT Link Asia, Northern Transcriptionworks, Inc., Multi-Scribe Global Outsourcing Inc., MTC Academy, Text Switch Unlimited, Inc., Total Transcription Solutions, Inc., Touch Asia Contact Solutions Inc., Transkripsyo, Inc. and SPI Healthcare Documentation. The Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages (PEARL 2) sponsored the participation of Philippine MT companies to AHIMA.
MTIAPI is an association of medical transcription firms, which was established to provide services and assistance for the development of the medical transcription industry.
The Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages (PEARL 2) sponsored the participation of Philippine MT companies to AHIMA.
The Philippine MT industry operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Filipino transcriptionists are a young population, with staff belonging in the 20 to 25 age brackets.
This includes Physical Therapy graduates, who account for 50 per cent of the total number of MT professionals.
Some 40 per cent of the workforce are nursing graduates and the remaining 10 per cent come from graduates of allied courses.
Nixon Averion, director and operations manager of Advanced MT Data Services Inc. said, “Aside from our huge pool of highly skilled transcriptionists, offshoring companies will also gain from quality transcription work we offer at competitive cost and a fast turn-around time due to time difference. As they sleep, we are already working and as soon as their day begins, the transcribed documents are ready for them.”
Aside from this, Transkripsyo Inc. CEO said that US companies contemplating on offshoring their MT work to the Philippines will greatly benefit from the on-site secured environment MT companies like Transkripsyo offers to ensure security of all records.
Aside from services, Philippine companies will also bring MT technology solutions in AHIMA such as those from Northern Transcriptionworks, Inc. and Text Switch Unlimited, Inc.
The Philippines offers a truly global choice of a wide range of transcription work that includes emergency reports, consultation reports, history and physical reports, clinical notes, psychiatric evaluation and laboratory reports among others, added Agoncillo-Reyes.
source: http://au.biz.yahoo.com/
