Transcription is a highly in-demand business process widely used in the legal, medical, and law enforcement fields. Its applications even extend to businesses, media, and academia. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the industry is expected to reach nearly $36 billion by 2032, and any client can choose from hundreds of professional transcription companies and specialized options, such as legal transcription services.
However, with that large a scope, there are sure to be common transcription errors that you’ll need to contend with.
Anyone in the medical or legal field knows how small documentation mistakes can snowball into bigger problems faster than you can imagine. Missing details or jumbled context don’t just create headaches—they can impact lives and damage reputations. So, what exactly are the most common transcription errors, and how can we avoid them?
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Transcription errors often stem from poor audio quality, tight deadlines, reliance on AI, and industry-specific jargon that untrained systems or personnel may misinterpret.
- Common mistakes, such as misheard words, missing phrases, and inaccurate speaker identification, can lead to serious consequences in legal, medical, and professional contexts. Human transcriptionists remain significantly more accurate than AI tools, especially in specialized fields that require a deep understanding of context.
- Ditto Transcripts minimizes these errors through the use of trained professionals, strict quality control, and customizable formatting, ensuring accuracy, security, and compliance.
What is Transcription, and Why is Accuracy Critical?
Have you ever tried playing the telephone game? It’s a game I used to love in kindergarten (yes, I still remember it) and it works like this: a person whispers a phrase to one person, that person whispers the same to another, and another until it reaches the last person in the class (say there were 20 of them), and “chocolate cake” somehow becomes “My goat swam in the Colorado River.”
That’s exactly what we want to avoid in transcription.
It can be a doctor’s note about a rash or a lawyer’s courtroom testimony—transcription accuracy is essential regardless of the case. You can think of a medical transcriptionist working behind the scenes to ensure your medical records don’t accidentally prescribe elephant tranquilizers when you just need an aspirin.
In all seriousness, accuracy can be a matter of life and death. In one landmark Alabama case, a hospital outsourced transcription overseas, and a single misplaced digit in an insulin dosage led to a tenfold increase. The patient received the wrong dose, suffered irreversible harm, and the family was later awarded $140 million in damages.
That tragedy underscores the importance of medico-legal transcription services, especially when translation is involved. These professionals ensure that every dictated word, dosage, and instruction is recorded and, if translated, remains exact and verifiable. When medical precision meets legal accountability, there’s no room for error, because one small mistake can carry life-changing consequences.
Causes of Transcription Errors
Errors can result from human fallibility or technological hiccups, and they lurk around every corner of the documentation process, waiting to transform clear communication into unintended comedy—or worse.
| Common Causes | Impact and Explanation |
| Poor Audio Quality | Like trying to understand someone talking through a pillow – background noise and static turn clear dictation into a guessing game. |
| Use of Automated Tools | AI tools can turn medical terms into bizarre phrases. Without human review, you might get “psychic elevator” instead of “psychiatric evaluation.” |
| Unfamiliar Terminology | When doctors or lawyers unleash their professional jargon, transcriptionists can get lost in translation without proper training. |
| Accents and Dialects | Regional accents turn simple transcription into a linguistic puzzle – what’s clear in Boston might be cryptic in Birmingham. |
| Tight Deadlines and Lack of Attention to Detail | Racing against the clock leads to oversights – suddenly, “annual review” becomes “manual renew.” |
That’s where verbatim transcription services come in. By capturing every word, pause, and nuance exactly as spoken, they remove ambiguity and ensure complete accuracy. This attention to detail is vital in legal, medical, and research settings where even one missed word can change meaning or outcomes.
Common Types of Transcription Errors
What are the common errors that keep transcriptionists up at night (besides that fourth cup of coffee)? I’ll give you some examples.
| Common Transcription Error | Explanation | Example / Impact |
| Misheard Words and Phrases (Homophones) | Words that sound alike but have different meanings can be easily misinterpreted, primarily when spoken with accents or poor audio quality. | “Sold her soul” vs. “sold her soul”; “park the car” heard as “pack the cod.” Mishearing medical terms like “myocardial infarction” as “myocardial infection” can lead to serious confusion. |
| Omitted Words or Phrases | Missing even a small word can drastically alter the meaning, especially in sensitive fields such as healthcare or law. | “Patient is not allergic to penicillin” turned into “Patient is allergic to penicillin.” Background noise often worsens this issue. |
| Inaccurate Speaker Identification | Mixing up speakers in meetings, depositions, or consultations can lead to serious misunderstandings or legal issues. | In a deposition, crediting a statement to the wrong witness could alter the entire case record. |
| Time-Stamp Errors | Incorrect timestamps can impact the accuracy of legal proceedings or medical timelines. | In court transcripts, a five-minute difference could make or break an alibi; in medicine, it could lead to misrepresentation of treatment timing. |
| Formatting Errors | Each industry follows strict formatting rules—especially in the fields of law and medicine. Errors reduce professionalism and credibility. | Legal transcripts have rigid structure requirements; medical and insurance documents need standardized formats for compliance. |
That’s why court transcription services are so essential, particularly those that are provided by Ditto. They ensure every word, timestamp, and speaker identification is recorded with absolute precision and is legally admissible, leaving no room for ambiguity in legal settings. Professional court transcriptionists adhere to strict formatting and accuracy standards, which help maintain the integrity of official records and prevent the kinds of costly errors shown above.
How Ditto’s Transcription Minimizes Errors
Sure, we’re only human, and we make mistakes. However, that is no excuse for compromising clients due to these common transcription errors.
That’s why we at Ditto Transcripts have perfected our process to provide educational institutions, businesses, healthcare facilities, legal firms, law enforcement agencies, you name it, all with the most accurate transcripts they’ll ever get—and here’s how we do it.
Highly-Trained, US-based Human Transcriptionists
AI transcription is indeed cheap, although it is only 61.92% accurate. Do you really want to save a few dollars and gamble on accuracy?
With our specialized transcription service, you won’t have to worry. Ditto only hires US-based transcriptionists to provide the highest quality and accuracy. Our experts have a full command of English and commendable experience in all the fields mentioned.
Having been exposed to (American) English from day one, our professionals can work with various accents and dialects. They also undergo training and receive feedback/coaching sessions to stay current and up-to-date on the latest developments in the field.
Furthermore, our transcriptionists know how to use context to retrieve the correct information, utilizing surrounding information to pinpoint the relevant words to use. Better yet, we can request clarification or mark ambiguous sections in the transcript for improved clarity.
Rigorous Quality Control
Some transcription companies might be okay with running an error check with Grammarly once and being done with a transcript. We’re not.
At Ditto, all transcripts undergo several proofreading and editing processes to ensure our trademark 99% (or even more!) accuracy.
Customizability
Here at Ditto, our clients are in the driver’s seat. Formatting and style guidelines can be provided to ensure that transcripts are ready to use the moment they land in their inboxes.
You can provide us with templates for different departments or specialties, and we’ll make sure every transcript you receive for them is tailored to your needs and eliminates most of the common transcription errors in one easy process.
Do you need classic, no-nonsense standard formats? We can also ensure that all information is captured and recorded correctly and consistently.
CJIS, HIPAA, FINRA, and HITECH-compliant Security
We utilize the most up-to-date security measures to ensure that every line of transcription is directed where it’s intended. Our protocols include top-of-the-line encryption, redundant firewalls, on-site physical security measures, and non-disclosure agreements.
Even better, we’re compliant with all the security protocols you can think of, so you can be sure that all your transcripts are secure and fall under Meaningful Use.
Speed And Accuracy (Without Sacrificing Either)
Yes, accuracy is non-negotiable. That doesn’t mean we get to sit on your transcripts for months to make them usable. You can receive your transcripts in as fast as 24 hours, or if you prefer a more economical option, you can expect them within ten business days. As I said, you call the shots.
Want To Prevent Transcription Errors? Say No More!
Procedural issues primarily cause common transcription errors. So, don’t settle for shoddy transcription service providers or automated solutions that make you want to ask for a refund, even if they’re free. Work with us and experience the following perks:
- More than 99% accuracy on all projects
- Fast turnaround times
- Different affordable rates for different budgets
- Flexibility and customization
- HIPAA and HITECH compliance
- No lock-in periods or contracts—pay as you go
- Multi-channel communication
- Industry-leading customer support
- Legal transcription prices that do not break the bank
Not convinced? You can also check our client testimonials
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based FINRA, HIPAA, and CJIS-compliant transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote.