Philippine MT companies explore US market for transcription deals

The Philippine medical transcription industry expects to secure bigger business deals from healthcare institutions in the United States through its participation to the 78th AHIMA Convention and Exhibition (7-12 October) in the United States, the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) reported.

The United States’ medical transcription industry is worth 25 billion dollars and is expected to grow by 20 percent annually, industry reports said. This is due to the increasing documentation demand to support reimbursement, risk management, and the need for more data.

Despite being the largest market in MT services, the United States is experiencing a shortage in medical transcriptionists, as its younger population were no longer interested in entering the MT profession leaving the industry with aging transcriptionists between 47-51.

“This growing shortage of medical transcription personnel in the US because of retirement and inadequate new recruits joining the profession opens up opportunities for Philippine MT companies,” noted Trade Assistant Secretary Fe Agoncillo-Reyes, head of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM). “Our cultural closeness to the United States, American educational system, including American diction and pronunciation give our local MT an advantage in dealing with American clients.”

The Medical Transciption Industry Association of the Philippines (MTIAPI) and CITEM organized this year’s Philippine participation to AHIMA.

AHIMA stands for American Health Information Management Association and represents more than 50, 000 educated health information management professionals. As a professional organization, they make and influence buying decisions.

To date, the Philippines accounts for 10 percent of the total MT work that the US outsources to Asia. Filipino transcriptionists can transcribe up to 1,000 lines per day, at a 98% accuracy rate. In 2003, the Philippines was awarded the largest medical transcription contract in the world (
23, 000 lines per day), according to the Philippine IT Pffshore Network.

“We see further growth in the demand for medical transcription as US industry reports say that there are approximately 6, 700 hospitals in the US have yet to convert medical notes to electronic files,” said Agoncillo-Reyes.

The Philippine medical transcription industry is an emerging industry with its rich pool of low-cost yet English-proficient and IT-skilled workers with medical backgrounds, familarity with US medical standards and practices, and advanced and cost-competitive telecom infrastructure, as well as the speed it can deliver output to the United States due to the 12-hour difference between two countries.

In 2005, the Philippines ranked third in the world for top BPO destinations based on neoIT’s Mapping Offshore Update. The Philippine MT industry employs about 5, 000 professionals and offer transcription services for mergency reports, consultation reports, clinicial notes, psychiatric evaluation, laboratory x-ray reports and therapy and rehabilitation notes using highly advanced software and equipment from the United States.

For the past years, the DTI through CITEM, the Board of Investments and its Foreign Trade Service Corps together with MTIAPI and Pearl2 projects have been promoting the Philippine capability in transcription in the US. Other than the participation to AHIMA, their other efforts include international trade and investment mission, business matching activities, and seminars.

For information about the Philippine participation to AHIMA, please contact CITEM’s IT Services and Electronics Division at (+632) 8325044 and (+632) 8312201 locals 212, 251, and 301, or email itservices@citem.com.ph