Medical Transcription Philippines

Medical transcription is tagged as the next bright spot after the call center boom. From nine companies in 2001, the industry has grown to 40 this year. Data from industry group Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MTIAPI) showed that the country is taking in less than one percent of the United States market, which is valued at $12 billion. The US is outsourcing just 42% of its medical transcription requirement abroad, and about 6,700 hospitals have yet to convert their medical records into electronic format.

Evelyn S. Abat, MTIAPI president, said that if the country can get hold of even just 10% of the US market, revenues will soar to more than P50 billion.

To get started, a small company with 15 computers would need an initial investment of between P1 million and P5 million, said Ms. Abat who is also the managing director of medical transcription company eData Services Philippines, Inc. The amount would cover for office space, networked computers, servers, foot pedals, headsets and salary for the manager,training personnel, and transcriptionists.

In a month, for revenues of $10,000, the owner is assured of a margin of between 20% and 30%. Companies usually pay their workers based on the number of characters encoded or lines. Each line, equivalent to 65 characters, is $0.08. Ms. Abat noted that the sustainability of the business relies mainly on manpower and a direct contact with hospitals and clinics in the US.