Glossary, documentation
What is medical transcription?
Medical transcription is the conversion of spoken clinical information, such as a clinician's dictation or a recorded consultation, into written text for the patient record. It is done by human transcriptionists, by speech recognition software or by both, and the clinician remains responsible for checking the result.
Updated . Defined by the wai team for clinics, groups and health systems.
Also called clinical transcription, medical dictation or speech recognition in healthcare.
Why Medical transcription matters to a clinic
Transcription decides how fast a letter leaves the clinic. When dictation waits in a queue for typing, referrals and GP letters go out days after the visit, and the patient and the receiving clinician wait with them.
Speech recognition has shortened that queue, and ambient scribes go a step further by structuring the text into a note. In one study, clinicians using an ambient scribe did 30% less work after hours,1 time a transcription queue on its own does not give back.
Accuracy is the clinic's responsibility either way. Drug names, doses and laterality are where errors cost most, so a signed record should always be read against what was said.
Questions
Is medical transcription the same as an AI scribe?
No. Transcription produces text from speech. An AI scribe listens to the whole consultation and drafts a structured note, letters and referrals from it for the clinician to sign.
Does the clinician still need to check a transcript?
Yes. The clinician who signs the record is responsible for what it says, so names, doses and laterality are worth reading against the transcript.
Sources
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