Transcription Market Share Analysis

Lower Volumes, But More Stable Outlook

JOHNSON CITY, TN — Of the estimated 2.1 billion patient encounters documented in the United States in 2015, approximately 32%, or over 670 million documents, were generated by dictation and transcription, according to a new market analysis from WebChartMD.

The analysis (click here to access) breaks out the clinical documentation market into the three main documentation methods most often used by healthcare providers: 1) Provider Entry, in which the healthcare provider enters data him/herself into the EHR; 2) dictation and transcription; and 3) Scribe Entry, in which Medical Scribes enter data into the EHR.  Front-end speech recognition usage was not included in the study.

Provider Entry is the leading clinical documentation method, with an estimated 61% market share, followed by dictation and transcription, with an estimated 32%. Scribe Entry trails with an estimated 7% market share.

Dictation and transcription, the second most-used modality, had its heaviest concentration of usage in ambulatory specialty care and hospital-based documentation.  The medical transcription industry had estimated 2015 sales of $2.2 billion, or 20.6 billion annual lines. About 30% of all US-based physicians – or just over 300,000 – continue to use dictation and transcription for some percentage of their clinical documentation, according to a recent WebChartMD estimate.

A notable change in the break-out of market share has been the rise of the Scribe Entry segment, which has grown from a few thousand to over 20,000 Scribes nationwide in just the last few years. Scribes currently process an estimated 143 million patient encounters annually, or about 7% of the entire clinical documentation market.

One take-away from the analysis? “The government has spent billions of dollars since the 2009 HITECH Act to incent physicians to adopt EHR-based clinical documentation tools.  Despite that, there remains a sizable minority of healthcare providers who continue to use dictation and transcription,” said Christensen. “While transcription will never return to its former levels of usage, I believe there are a number of specific reasons why it will persist as a clinical documentation modality.”

About WebChartMD

WebChartMD, a software development company specializing in clinical documentation workflow applications, partners with over 100 MTSOs nationwide, which in turn serve over 8,000 physicians via the WebChartMD platform. 

Medical Document Services of Kansas, LLC (MDS) is a Wichita, Kansas healthcare document service specializing in Medical Billing and RCM, Medical Transcription, Pre-Certs with AzaleaHealth EHR.   We provide efficient, accurate, affordable quality services for hospitals, clinics, and facilities of all sizes. Call 866-777-7264 today, or visit our website for more information.  We have education programs in Medical Scribe Specialists. #medicaltranscription #azaleahealthEHR #revenuecyclemanagement #MDSofKansas #medicalbillingservice

Providence worker to serve 2 years for giving medical records to drug dealer

By Tulsi Patil for KTUU.comBehindBars-770x332

ANCHORAGE – An Anchorage woman was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for violations to medical privacy laws, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler’s office announced in a press release.

According to prosecutors, 33-year-old Stacy Laulu was a financial counselor at Providence Hospital in March, 2013 when she was contacted by Stuart Seugasala who asked her to access private medical records of two patients at the hospital.

Seugasala was a video game parlor owner at the time and was also trafficking drugs on the side. On March 13, 2013, Seugasala and two others kidnapped, tortured and sexually assaulted two men who owed them money. The condition of one of the victims was so severe that he was admitted to Providence Hospital for treatment.

Two days later, on March 15, in an unrelated incident, Seugasala put another person in the hospital when he shot at a person driving on Seward Highway. The victim suffered from a severed fingertip and a neck-graze wound and was also admitted to Providence Hospital for treatment.

Prosecutors wrote that Seugasala then contacted Laulu and asked her to take a look at their private medical records.

“Laulu determined the identity of one of the victims (one of whom was still hospitalized) and provided Seugasala with confidential information about the victims, including what they had told hospital staff about how they sustained their injuries, the severity of the injuries and what was reflected in hospital records about their cooperation with law enforcement,” prosecutors wrote.

Laulu communicated all the information to Seugasala via text messages and police seized her phone at the request of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Laulu admitted to sending the information to Seugasala and Providence Hospital terminated her employment.

“Evidence at the trial established that Laulu’s husband was a close friend and former co-defendant with Seugasala in a federal drug case,” prosecutors wrote. “Witnesses at Seugasala’s and Laulu’s trial testified that, at times, Seugasala would arrange to drop off drug proceeds for Laulu and her husband’s benefit.”

Laulu was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Prosecutors wrote in the press release that this case was the first felony HIPAA prosecution in Alaskan history and one of the few in the country.

Seugasala was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 18.

Medical Document Services of Kansas, LLC (MDS) is a Wichita, Kansas healthcare document service specializing in Medical Billing and RCM, Medical Transcription, Pre-Certs with AzaleaHealth EHR.   We provide efficient, accurate, affordable quality services for hospitals, clinics, and facilities of all sizes. Call 866-777-7264 today, or visit our website for more information.  We have education programs in Medical Scribe Specialists. #medicaltranscription #azaleahealthEHR #revenuecyclemanagement