Immediate (Thursday, March 31, 2005)

Julie A. Davis

Executive Director, Vermont HITEC

802-872-0660

Collin Parker

Public Affairs, Fletcher Allen Health Care

802-847-5195

Fletcher Allen Announces Hiring of 18 Vermonters as Medical Transcriptionists; Ends Outsourcing to India

Burlington, VT - Vermont HITEC and Fletcher Allen Health Care officially presented completion certificates to the 18 individuals who have successfully finished an eight-month education and training program in medical transcription during a ceremony this morning on the Medical Center Campus of Fletcher Allen.

Upon completion of the program last month, each of the students was offered a work-at-home position with Fletcher Allen.  The program is also accredited through Burlington College, and the graduates received 32 college credits towards an Associate's Degree and a Medical Transcription Certificate.

The program successfully eliminated Fletcher Allen's need to outsource portions of its medical transcription volume to overseas companies in India.  Fletcher Allen continues to utilize American companies for some of its medical transcriptions, but at a much lower volume than prior to the Vermont HITEC program.

Fletcher Allen President and Chief Executive Officer Melinda Estes, M.D., personally congratulated each of the graduates.  Other speakers at the event included Gerry Ghazi, President of Vermont HITEC; and Jane Sanders, President of Burlington College.

"This is truly an occasion to celebrate," said Dr. Estes.  "These eighteen people have successfully completed a program that not only benefits them in their career, but will help

Fletcher Allen address its shortage of trained medical transcriptionists.  They now have good-paying, high-tech jobs, and they are truly making a difference at our academic health center."

"Many have said that it would be impossible for these students to become employable medical transcriptionists in such a short period of time," said Ghazi. "These students have demonstrated that given the appropriate education and commitment--it can be done! We are proud to add these graduates to the over 120 we have educated and employed over the past four years, and we applaud Fletcher Allen for the courage and commitment they have demonstrated in participating in this initiative."

In all, 20 Vermonters were chosen to participate in the program and were selected from a field of more than 700 applicants.  18 of the 20 have officially become employed at Fletcher Allen, and two are still working on completing the internship due to medical issues.  The program was free to participants and jointly funded by Fletcher Allen, Vermont HITEC and Vermont's Department of Employment and Training.

The Fletcher Allen medical transcription training program was funded in part with a grant from the state's Workforce Education and Training Fund as part of an ongoing partnership between Vermont HITEC and the Department of Employment and Training.  The program allows the graduates to work from home--a big plus for Fletcher Allen because of the limited space available to add hospital-based medical transcriptionists.

In order to graduate and to receive a completion certificate, the students were required to achieve transcription standards of 1000 lines per eight-hour day.  The graduates were then offered full-time or part-time positions with Fletcher Allen, earning a minimum of $10.82 per hour, plus benefits.