Mayo Clinic offered buyout packages or the option to transfer to a new job to nearly 400 of its medical transcriptionists as tools like electronic health records have reduced the needs for transcription services in recent years.
Mayo announced the offer in an internal memo to staff earlier this month and said employees have until May 19 to make a decision, The Post Bulletin reported. The changes reportedly impact employees for Mayo's main campus in Rochester, Minnesota, as well as its locations in Florida and Arizona.
"Dictation volumes are declining across Mayo Clinic. Mayo is in the process of assessing these volumes and looking to find ways to best match its transcription workforce with dictation volumes,” the internal announcement read, according to the Post Bulletin.
RELATED: Mayo Clinic’s John Noseworthy to retire; search begins for new CEO
It's part of a broader trend in the industry caused by the rise of EHRs. While transcriptionists are still needed in some capacity, far fewer are necessary and those who remain in the field have had to transition to electronic systems. Many health systems, such as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, outsourced their medical transcription jobs years ago.
This is also another cost-saving measure by Mayo which has been undertaking multiple efforts over the last five years, such as streamlining operations in its surgery departments and seeking to curb overtime costs, to address changing realities in the healthcare business. CEO John Noseworthy caused a flap last year after he told staff they would need to prioritize patients with commercial insurance over those covered by lower-paying Medicaid and Medicare.
RELATED: Defining value will drive healthcare industry disruption
Those efforts certainly seem to be working. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the health system reported a 49 percent jump in earning last year to $707 million on revenue of about $12 billion, attributing the increases to reductions in its Medicaid losses, as well as growth in its philanthropy, investments and efficiency.