BURLINGTON, Vt.—Fletcher Allen Health care hospital is laying off 23 people, their jobs in dictation transcription rendered obsolete because of speech-recognition software and electronic record-keeping.
Mike Noble, spokesman for the Burlington, Vt., hospital, says the jobs -- which were full- and part-time -- are no longer needed because speech-recognition software means providers don't have to dictate their notes to be typed and edited anymore.
The layoffs, which were announced Tuesday, take effect June 25. Three other jobs were vacated through attrition and four per-diem positions were eliminated, bringing the total to 30 positions that were cut.
The software was introduced last fall, following the hospital's implementation of an electronic health record system that allows physicians to directly input information, which cut the volume of transcription work by 27 percent.
