Fletcher Allen Health Care (Burlington, Vt.) announced that 30 of its full and part time employees will lose their medical transcription positions effective June 25 as a result of new technologies being implemented at the medical center.
Medical transcriptionists type and edit notes dictated by health care providers for a patient’s medical record, but new technologies, including speech-recognition software, and the continuing adoption of electronic health record systems, which allow physicians to enter information directly into the system without dictation, have decreased the overall volume of transcription work at Fletcher Allen by 27% to date.
Fletcher Allen is providing severance packages to impacted employees tied to their length of service, including assistance in locating other employment.
Fifty-three people will continue to provide editing services and a small amount of traditional transcription services for the organization, which currently produces approximately 19 million lines of transcription per year.
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont’s academic medical center.
