I really must work on my schmoozing skills, ya know? no message inside.

Coimbatore has the potential to become one of the largest Medical Transcription (MT) centres outside the US due to the advantages of a large number of student population and health care knowledge available in the city, according to Mr Suresh Nair, CEO and Managing Director, Spheris India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, and President, the Indian Medical Transcription Industry Association (IMTIA).

The Industry, which now largely depends on business from the health care institutions in the US, could also expect to secure greater business from the hospitals in India in the coming years as the health insurance business that drives the growth of the MT industry is set to gain greater acceptance among the people here, he said.

Addressing the media here, he said the MT industry in India currently employs around 20,000 people and compared with other BPO activities such as call centre jobs, the attrition rate in MT sector was less. The size of the business generated by the MT industry annually in India was estimated at $250 million that was a fraction of the global MT industry's business volume of $12 billion. In India, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi were prominent centres for the MT industry but now the business is seen shifting to smaller cities such as Pune, Kochi and Coimbatore. The industry is witnessing a 50 per cent annual growth in the country.

He said though the US health care sector generated the largest volume of business for the MT industry in India, other countries such as Australia, the UK, West Asia and Singapore offered good potential. He said more than 50 per cent of the medical transcription work was done inhouse by hospitals in the US and this offered more opportunity for growth.

Mr Nair clarified that the medical transcription work was moving from the US to India not because of any cost advantage but because of the growing shortage in the availability of medical transcription personnel in the US. There was an estimated 10 per cent annual decline in transcriptionists capacity every year in the US because of retirement and inadequate number of new recruits joining the profession there.

He said it was estimated that India requires addition of 10,000 transcriptionists every year to cope with the demand. Apart from the Philippines that had traditionally competed with India for this work, others such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan have joined the race to get their share of the outsourcing pie. There are signs of South American nations and countries in the West Indies setting up capabilities in this field.

He said there has been a gradual migration of companies in the industry from larger cities such as Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad to smaller cities such as Pune, Coimbatore and Kochi in the last two or three years. In the last twelve months, three or four MT companies have moved to Coimbatore from Bangalore. Powered by the growth in broadband connectivity, there was also growing trend of transcriptionists working from home that offered tremendous employment potential to women.

Mr Nair expected Coimbatore to have 5,000 medical transciptionists in the next 18 months. Asked about the safeguards the MT companies have put in place to get their fee for the work done from clients abroad and to pay their employees here promptly, Mr T.P. Prabhakaran, CEO of Pradot Technologies Private Ltd, Bangalore, which also has a unit here, said the companies entered into contracts directly with the hospitals and also obtained part of the payment in advance. The MT companies have established their presence in the business and have strong relationship with their clients.

Mr Nair said a trained MT could earn up to Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 a month, and this could go up to Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 after two years of experience.

© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu Business Line