The advent of EMR technology, the introduction of "meaningful use" dollars and the maturity of speech recognition software have dramatically changed the landscape of the transcription industry. Most hospitals and HIM departments will naturally look to transcription to help cut expenses and balance department budgets.
On the other end of the discussion Dr.s have added work with each patient due to EMR's and generally are either working longer hours or seeing fewer patients while insurance providers are reducing reimbursements to them. This seems like an unsustainable business model for the medical profession as a whole.
It seems clear the EMR technology is here to stay but probably not in it's current state due to its impact on a Dr's practice. If the process of EMR's is to change to free up a Dr's time, how will it change? Is there a place for a type of modified transcription service in the new EMR world?