You almost can't talk about medical documentation without bringing up medical transcription.

Because even though human transcriptionists didn't enter patient care until the 1900s, they mark a turning point for the medical record—and by that I mean we finally had a medical record.

Clinicians went from jotting notes to jog their memory to an entire note-taking methodology. And soon after that, the electronic medical record (EMR) introduced the healthcare industry to the future.

Of course, more patient data also means more administrative tasks. That's not quite the bright and shining future we're looking for.

Luckily, we're no where near the end of the story. Let's see what the future holds for the medical transcription industry.

TL;DR: The future of medical transcription

• Medical transcription is the practice of transcribing essential, verbally communicated patient information.
• While an essential role, demand for medical transcribers is currently on a downward trend.
• Advancements in AI-based, innovative tech offer realistic and cost-efficient solutions to traditional medical transcription. And it's game-changing.

Medical transcription: A brief history

In short: medical transcription is the process of writing out what doctors and care providers say.

Manual transcription was born from need: clinicians only have so much time, and way too much to do.

So, stenographers would write down everything doctors said in shorthand to help.

Traditionally, these human transcriptionists would begin and end each day manually filing piles of patient information.

Then, in the late 20th century, manual medical transcription gave way to electronic transcription in medicine.

And in the last two decades, the electronic health record (EHR) and advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) continued a shift in medical transcription.

The last line in this evolution (so far) is the AI scribe—a tool that can listen, understand, and create medical documentation from real conversations.

New trends in medical transcription

Here are the top transcription trends in the healthcare industry.

Decline in medical transcriptionists

As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment rate of medical transcriptionists is on a steady decline, expected to reduce by 5% from 2023 to 2033. 

As the demand for transcriptionists continues to decrease in the medical practice, technology has been assuming the bulk of the medical documentation responsibilities. 

Increase in artificial intelligence

With the rising trend of ambient medical transcription software that might use natural language processes, voice recognition, and AI to generate medical notes.


This helps clinicians to manage transcriptions and records on their own.

Although many practices still have a transcriber to edit and proofread their medical notes and records, ‎a reliable AI scribe software can do the bulk of the work and cut down on the time needed for edits.  

What are AI scribes?

AI-powered medical scribes are the natural next step in the medical transcription industry.

Many of these tools use natural language processing, AI, and/or machine learning to write accurate SOAP notes.

‎How do AI scribes work?

AI medical scribes use natural language processing to:

• Listen to patient interactions
• Analyze the context of discussions
• Generate accurate, ready-to-use medical notes

For example, if a patient comes in with stomach issues, an AI scribe will recognize the need to capture details about their recent meals.

But if the same patient presents with an earache, the AI will focus on relevant symptoms, like ear pain or hearing loss, and skip the dietary details.

Unlike traditional transcription tools, AI medical scribes do more than capture what you say—they interpret and format information the way you need it in the medical report.

Unlocking innovative solutions

If these new trends are any indication, then the future of medical transcription lives in AI and machine learning.

To be clear, these solutions aren't perfect. But they illustrate a growing desire in healthcare to free up admin time. And most importantly? They growing gap between the specific needs of the medical record, and the time it takes to fill it out.

Next, we'll likely see integrated solutions that combine the power of AI scribes with larger clinical management tools and the electronic health record.

It's looking like a promising future, and time will tell sooner than we think.

Freed is the most clinician-focused company in the world. Try out our AI scribe for free.