Medical Transcription Services Market (Service Type: History & Physical Report [H&P], Discharge Summary [DS], Operative Note or Report [OP], Consultation Report [CONSULTS], and Others; and Mode of Procurement: Outsourcing, Offshoring, and Both) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2022-2030

The global Medical Transcription Services market gathered revenue around USD 65.9 billion in 2021 and market is set to grow USD 100.7 billion by the end of 2030 and is estimated to expand at a modest CAGR of 6.9% during the prediction period 2022 to 2030.

The global medical transcription services market is negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. After significant efforts taken by governments, healthcare practitioners, and market stakeholders to recover from losses caused due to pandemic, the market is witnessing growth opportunities.

Earlier, medical documentation involved lots of paper work and was time consuming. Such documents were sometimes handwritten or typed on paper and gradually started occupying space in healthcare institutes, hospitals and clinics. Apart from being space consuming, retrieving any particular patient record from piles of record files posed as a bigger issue. Documentation and maintenance of patient records was not only a burden on hospitals but also on physicians and other healthcare staff, which, thereby, created demand for a medical documentation process which involved less manpower, space, and processing time.

Increasing patient population across the globe, rising surgical procedures, and rapidly improving healthcare infrastructure are some of the factors responsible for the global market growth. The global medical transcription services market is creating lucrative opportunities for manufacturers to mark their presence in the global market.

Report Scope of the Medical Transcription Services Market

Technological Advancements in Medical Transcription Services Boost Market Growth

The medical transcription process involves transcribing the patient information dictated by physician into text format. Physicians record patient information using audio recorders and send such recordings to medical transcriptionist for further process. This process has not only reduced writing work and efforts of physicians across the globe, but has also helped in reducing space required for the saving of such documents. Apart from efficiently recording, patient records medical transcription services also turn out to be instrumental in reducing the risk of legal disputes and insurance reimbursement issues. Many medical transcription service providers are offering both transcription services and transcription software. Audio recorders are being rapidly replaced with speech recognition software that allows automatic conversion of audio into text format. Medical transcription services can be offshored or outsourced. Many developed countries prefer offshoring medical transcription jobs to the companies situated in developing countries such as India, China and Philippines.

Increasing Trend of Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services

Medical transcription demands high-end accuracy and hence, requires skilled manpower. Developing in-house manpower capable of transcribing medical information with accuracy, along with developing and maintaining infrastructure necessary for providing medical transcription services is a costly affair. Hence, many healthcare professionals outsource their transcription jobs to save both time and monetary resources. Healthcare institutes prefer offshoring medical transcription activities over outsourcing, as it is more beneficial for labor as well as healthcare institutes to avail the transcription services in exchange of dollars (currency rate benefits). Medical transcription has extended definitions of healthcare services by enabling physicians and specialty physicians to treat patients across the globe, refer documents in history for special cases and guide for physicians in case of transfer of patient from one physician to another for better treatment. Developing countries in Europe are investing more on building medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs).

North America Shows Lucrative Growth Opportunities for Market Players

North America is expected to account for the largest market share of the global medical transcription services market due to increased medical documentation in the U.S. Contribution of the U.S. in availing medical transcription services is going to increase further as effects of passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Furthermore, most of the healthcare professionals availing medical transcription services are domiciled in the U.S., thus giving more scope to in-shore outsourcing. Many major MTSOs are coming up with cost effective products in the market that is driving cost reduction in this market. Growing awareness of medical documentation and its implementation by many healthcare professionals, hospitals, clinics and healthcare institutes is driving growth of medical transcription market.

Countries in Asia-Pacific are focusing more on medical transcription service industry rather than on availing medical transcription services. Governments in India, Philippines and China are providing subsidies, incentives, cost benefits in internet services and tax benefits for developing infrastructure required for set up of medical transcription company, developing skilled manpower and improving technology.

Growing Emphasis on Using Standard Reporting Styles

• The healthcare industry, particularly in the developed countries, is dependent on insurance. Physicians, healthcare facilities, and other medical practitioners are required to document patient cases for insurance purposes. Earlier, the transcription tasks of such cases were performed by medical practitioners themselves. However, with the standardization of transcription procedures, requirement of documentation became more stringent which increased the pressure on medical practitioners and hospital administration.
• For instance, the publication of the Book of Style for Medical Transcription by the American Association of Medical Transcription increased the emphasis on standard documentation and accuracy of MT reports. Stringent regulations for documentation of medical records have assisted in generating demand for professional transcription services. Mandatory adherence to Health Insurance Protection and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has initiated further pressure on healthcare service providers for accurate documentation of healthcare records.
• Insurance companies also demand legible and accurate patient documents to comply with government requirements. Medical practice in North America and Europe is strictly regulated with government statutes. Violation of such regulations results in malpractice lawsuits against healthcare providers. Hence, healthcare providers need to strictly adhere to the required standards of documentation.

Assurance of Patient Record Portability Boosts Market Growth

• One of the important considerations of medical transcription is the assurance that the transcribed patient and related healthcare records can be easily retrieved from the repository. Another major preference of healthcare facilities and other eligible professionals toward opting for outsourcing medical transcription is the current ability of easy switching of vendors, should the customer wish to switch vendors in case of price discrepancy or should the vendor fail in the market. Standardization of the format of transcribed reports has turned out to be a major benefit rendering the growth of the medical transcription servicers market.
• The ability of avoiding the phenomenon of “vendor lock” and thus the resultant avoidance of risk of ending up in a non-transferrable and proprietary format of transcribed reports is driving the demand for opting for medical transcription services across the world.

Dictation Challenges with Medical Transcription Services to Hamper Market

• For years, physicians used to dictate patient reports while medical transcriptionists used their auditory skills to decipher what they are saying. Technologies such as EHRs and speech recognition have been instrumental in converting such transcription issues into further downstream problems, thereby increasing the focus of the intermediaries on exploring ways to tackle this issue.
• Various phenomena together or individually cause poor dictation. Tendency to multi-task such as eating, typing, or driving while dictating record or with having others in the room could cause distortion in the quality of the record and further challenge the transcriptionist to distinguish the speaker’s voice among others. Moreover, increase in the number of physicians in a healthcare system widens the range of poor dictation. Accuracy of such reports is of utmost importance as treatment decisions are based on the information included in these reports.

Some of the prominent players in the Medical Transcription Services Market include:

• Nuance Communications, Inc.
• MModal, Inc.
• Acusis, LLC
• Transcend Services, Inc.
• TransTech Medical Solutions
• Precyse Solutions LLC
• iMedX Information Services Pvt. Ltd., among others

Segments Covered in the Report

This research report offers market revenue, sales volume, production assessment and prognoses by classifying it on the basis of various aspects. Further, this research study investigates market size, production, consumption and its development trends at global, regional, and country level for the period of 2017 to 2030 and covers subsequent region in its scope:

• By Service Type
• History and Physical Report (H&P)
• Discharge Summary (DS)
• Operative Note or Report (OP)
• Consultation Report (CONSULTS)
• Others (Pathology Report (PATH) & Radiology Report (X-rays or radiographs))
• By Mode of Procurement
• Outsourcing
• Offshoring
• Both

By Geography

North America

• U.S.
• Canada

Europe

• Germany
• France
• United Kingdom
• Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

• China
• Japan
• India
• Southeast Asia
• Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

• Brazil
• Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

• GCC
• North Africa
• South Africa
• Rest of Middle East & Africa

Key Points Covered in Medical Transcription Services Market Study:

• Growth of Medical Transcription Services in 2022
• Market Estimates and Forecasts (2017-2030)
•  Brand Share and Market Share Analysis
•  Key Drivers and Restraints Shaping Market Growth
•  Segment-wise, Country-wise, and Region-wise Analysis
•  Competition Mapping and Benchmarking
•  Recommendation on Key Winning Strategies
•  COVID-19 Impact on Demand for Medical Transcription Services and How to Navigate
•  Key Product Innovations and Regulatory Climate
•  Medical Transcription Services Consumption Analysis
•  Medical Transcription Services Production Analysis
•  Medical Transcription Services and Management