Transcription sector to benefit from US healthcare law

THE transcription sector in Davao City is quick to find opportunity in the recently-approved healthcare law of the United States.

ICT Davao president Lizabel Holganza, in Wednesday's Club 888 Forum at the Marco Polo Hotel, announced new opportunities for local players with the new changes in the US.

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She said more Filipinos will find job in medical transcription as the US opens its program for uninsured Americans who were not able to get coverage because of health conditions.

Holganza explained that the US healthcare law is expected to broaden health insurance coverage to Americans and that would spell more jobs to Filipinos who are into medical transcription.

Before, Americans get their own health insurance coverage from private companies and most of these companies disallow insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

However, the new law provided relief to these citizens.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the transcription sector is bent of moving up the value chain. It has seen the need to go beyond basic data entry into more complex areas like medical coding and billing and health insurance processing.

The Transcription Alliance of Davao (Tadi) is now working in conjunction with the Medical Transcription Industry of the Philippines Inc (MTIAPI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Agency (Tesda) to develop competency and assessment standards for the health information resource pool.

Tadi recently received subsidy to send two scholars to a medical coding and billing program conducted by MTIAPI. These trainors are now assisting the sectors HR development efforts by running training sessions for Davao's transcriptionists. (PIA XI/Mai Gevera)