Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing versatile solutions

Medical transcription is not a new concept, it has been around as long as healthcare itself, though medical transcription has evolved to a great extent from its earlier form due to advancements in the process and technology used in medical transcription. Today medical transcription is not only the process of converting audio records of the patient- healthcare encounter into text format, it is also a service which aids healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals by providing versatile services suited to the specific needs of healthcare facilities / healthcare professionals.

One of the major changes that have aided medical transcription to become more versatile is that provision of this service is not limited to the healthcare facility or the healthcare professional's office. The advent of Internet has ensured that medical transcription services can be availed from remote locations. This advancement has given birth to the concept of outsourcing. Outsourcing has enabled medical transcription to become an expert service that is provided and managed by service providers who specialize in this service, adding value to the basic service. This means that healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals can concentrate on what they do best; providing quality healthcare and medical transcription service providers can focus on what they do best; providing versatile medical transcription services.

What is meant by versatile medical transcription solutions?

The word versatile has been defined as changing or fluctuating readily to external changes and having many uses or applications. By this definition medical transcription services would definitely be considered versatile.

Providing versatile medical transcription solutions would encompass:

• Adjusting to varying volumes of medical transcription requirements: Medical transcription services have shown remarkable versatility by providing quality services irrespective of the volumes of transcription required.  Volumes of medical transcription would depend on the patient inflow, which is impossible to predict. However outsourced medical transcription service providers provide services for varying volumes without compromising the required quality standards of:

a)     Accuracy: Accuracy of the data captured in the transcripts is vital to the process of healthcare as well as the commercial aspects. Medical transcription service providers meet high accuracy levels by using the right team and the right quality process to ensure that the integrity of the data captured is not compromised. They ensure that they have teams of specialty trained medical transcriptionists who can cope with varying volumes of any specialty without compromising on the quality. They also use a stringent quality policy to ensure that high standards of quality are met with.

b)     Turnaround time: Healthcare professionals require information that is not only accurate but also available on time. Medical transcription service providers ensure turnaround time commitments are met with by using the right team and the right technology.

c)      Security: Maintaining security of confidential patient information is both a legal and moral responsibility. Medical transcription service providers ensure HIPAA/HITECH compliance, by educating the team, using the right processes and using secure technology.

• Accepting flexible modes of dictation: Healthcare professionals are starved for time and would like to have options to dictate as per their time constraints using familiar modes of dictation. Medical transcription service providers offer versatility in this by allowing the healthcare professionals to use flexible modes of dictation.

• Providing numerous modes of document delivery: medical transcription service providers provide versatile services by providing healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities multiple options for document delivery.

• Providing editing services for speech recognition transcription: Though speech recognition or voice recognition does not provide total transcription solutions, some healthcare professionals have adopted it. But the accuracy levels of speech recognition transcription are 60% - 80%. Medical transcription service providers offer editing services for such transcripts to improve their accuracy to acceptable levels.

• Facilitating adoption of EMR/EHR: Adopting EMR/EHR systems have been made mandatory by law. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have aided in this process by using the requisite technology for enabling imports to the EMR systems.

Outsourced medical transcription services do fit the definition of being versatile by adapting to the changing requirements of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals. However while outsourcing it is important to evaluate the medical transcription service provider on the basis of not only accuracy, turnaround time, security and cost savings but also on their ability to adapt their team, technology and process to provide versatile services.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry provides versatile medical transcription solutions. TransDyne provides cost effective medical transcription services for varying volumes of transcription without compromising the quality standards of accuracy, turnaround time and security. TransDyne allows healthcare professionals to use flexible modes of dictation. TransDyne provides multiple options for document delivery. TransDyne provides editing support for transcripts as required. TransDyne has HL7 interface to facilitate adoption of EMR/EHR.

To avail versatile medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

Medical transcription: Reasons for outsourcing

Medical transcription has always played a vital role in the healthcare process by creating records of the patient – healthcare professional encounter, converting the audio files provided by the healthcare professionals into text format. Healthcare professionals depend on information found in these patient records to provide quality healthcare. Medical records also play a vital role in the process leading to reimbursements. In situations where healthcare professionals/ healthcare facilities have faced malpractice litigations medical records have provided evidence regarding the treatment process.

The service of creating patient records through the process of medical transcription can be obtained from various sources. Healthcare facilities could have the in-house staff transcribe these records or have independent contractors provide this service or avail the services of a professional medical transcription service provider. It has been found that outsourcing medical transcription needs to a professional medical transcription service provider is the most effective, efficient and economic solution for the medical record documentation needs of healthcare facilities.

What are the reasons for outsourcing medical transcription to a professional service provider?

• Cut expenses: One of the main and obvious benefits of outsourcing medical transcription is that of saving on costs. Outsourcing helps the healthcare facilities save as much as 40%-50% on current costs. This is made possible by choosing the right service provider who can pass on the benefits of using the right team, the right process, the right technology and the economies of scale achieved by this by way of lowered costs.

• Accelerating reimbursements: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the transcription takes place on time. As medical transcription is the foundation for starting the receivables cycle, maintaining turnaround time helps speed up the process.

• Cut down on payroll costs: Medical transcription is a people intensive process requiring a skilled and trained team to maintain the high standards required. Moreover coordinating medical transcription requires management, administrative and information technology staff. Outsourcing helps save on the payroll costs of these personnel

• Save on infrastructure costs: Executing medical transcription in-house requires infrastructure like space, utilities, furniture and transcription equipment. Outsourcing medical transcription allows for optimum utilization of these resources towards the development of the core business of providing quality healthcare.

• Availing the services of specialists: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the healthcare facilities benefit from the experience and skills of the service provider. This enables them to reap the benefits of quality services at lower rates and the benefits of the technology used by the medical transcription service provider that provide secure and speedy services with multiple benefits

• Improve workflow: Medical transcription is essential part of the chain leading to quality healthcare and the process of reimbursement. Outsourcing ensures that creation of patient records takes place on time without compromising any of the quality parameters. This helps improve the workflow.

• Survive and flourish in competitive environment: Decreasing costs, improved cash flow and the added benefits of security & multiple benefits of easy to use technology provided by the outsourced service provider helps healthcare facilities survive and flourish in this competitive environment.

There are numerous advantages of outsourcing medical transcription. However while outsourcing, it is important for healthcare facilities to evaluate the medical transcription service provider based on parameters like accuracy, turnaround time, cost, security and the technology used to avail maximum benefits.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, executed by experienced and qualified medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription: A valuable link in the healthcare chain

The healthcare process is complex one depending on inputs from various sources to be effective and economical. Medical transcription has always played an important part in the delivery of healthcare by creating patient records from the audio records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter.

The importance of medical transcription as a link in the process of delivering quality healthcare can be understood by studying in detail, the information captured in patient records. Patient records contain the following:

• The patient demographic sheet or hospital admission sheet:

This includes details like

1.     Patient's address

2.     Next of kin

3.     Birthplace

4.     Social security number

5.     Occupation

6.     Sex

7.     Marital status

8.     Ethnic origin

9.     Religious preference

10. Admitting diagnosis

11. Financial entries including:

a)                 Patient's employee

b)                 Job title

c)                 Address of company

d)                 Insurance company

e)                 Contact person for emergency

f)                   Type of coverage

g)                 Insurance Identification number

h)                 Type of payment plan.

• Consent forms Include:

a)     Patient's consent for treatment

b)     Outline of patient's responsibilities including billing

c)      Assurance that confidentiality will be protected

• Medical entries of the patient's healthcare records include:

a)     Physician's notes

b)     Diagnostic tests

c)     Nursing entries

d)     Physician entries

e)     Therapists entries

f)       Ancillary personnel entries

• Emergency records include:

a)     Demographic details

b)     Nursing assessment

c)     Physician's evaluation

d)     Treatment

e)     Conclusions

The role that medical transcription plays in the process of healthcare is vital as medical transcription is the process of creating comprehensive records that include:

1. Diagnostic test results
2. Consent
3. Instructions

The role of medical transcription is that of recording the symptoms, the diagnosis, the treatment process and the progress made by the patient. This helps healthcare professionals in providing quality healthcare and also helps in the process of coding and billing. An easy fix to ensure that medical transcription takes place in a speedy, accurate, cost-effective manner and secure manner is to outsource the process of medical record creation to a professional medical transcription service provider.

Some of the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription are:

• Increase in productivity: Outsourcing medical transcription has the advantage of increasing productivity of healthcare professionals and other staff in the healthcare facilities by providing services with several time saving benefits like:

1.      Retaining familiar modes of dictation

2.      Automatic uploads and downloads

3.      Providing multiple options for document delivery

4.      Archives to enable tracing transcripts

5.      HL7 interface for EMR adoption

• Decrease in costs: Outsourcing medical transcription benefits the healthcare facilities by providing enormous savings on costs; both direct and indirect

• Streamlined process: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the process of patient medical record creation occurs on a regular basis, ensuring both accuracy and turnaround time and in formats/templates required by the healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals.

Healthcare facilities benefit by the administrative expertise, the technological expertise and the best practices of the medical transcription service provider.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing comprehensive medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, done by expert medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!               

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Improves resource utilization

In the current scenario the healthcare sector is faced with many challenges, two of the main being maintaining high quality standards for their services and maintaining profitability. The pressures faced by the healthcare sector in achieving these goals are the need to keep up with the new developments in the healthcare sector, threat of litigation, increased expenses, shrinking or static level of reimbursements among other external pressures.

Under such circumstances it makes sense for healthcare facilities to focus on their core business of providing quality healthcare and outsource all those activities that are not part of the core business. Medical transcription plays an important role in the delivery of healthcare services, by creating records of the patient- healthcare professional encounters.  Though medical transcription is vital for the healthcare process it is not part of the core competencies of the healthcare facility.

Outsourcing medical transcription not only ensures creation of patient medical records in an accurate, timely, cost effective and secure manner, but also aids the healthcare facilities to improve resource utilization.

How does outsourcing medical transcription improve resource utilization?

• Outsourcing medical transcription is cost effective: One of the main advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is the enormous cost saving benefits to the healthcare facility. Cost saving are a result of:

1.      Economies of scale: Medical transcription is the core business of the service provider and therefore the service provider would be able to provide quality service at lower rates having the right team, the right process and the right technology in place.

2.      Expertise: Having served medical transcription needs of varied healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals, the service provider would have honed their expertise in providing services that are suited to the specific needs of healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals at reasonable rates.

• Outsourcing medical transcription produces better results: One of the main contributors to quality medical transcription services are the quality of the medical transcriptionists working on the transcription. A professional service provider would have the recruited and trained the right talent. This would ensure that the accuracy levels are high from the very beginning.

• Outsourcing medical transcription produces quicker results: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures not only accuracy but also optimum turnaround time. The service provider would have teams of specialist medical transcriptionists available to transcribe records round the clock ensuring that patient medical records are created without any delays

• Outsourcing medical transcription helps streamline processes: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the service provider would have software and tools in place, which will provide added benefits to streamline the process. Functions like uploading audio files, downloading transcripts, tracking patient files, adoption to EMR, varied modes of document delivery, HIPAA/ HITECH compliance during the transcription process would be provided for by the service provider.

It can be seen that outsourcing medical transcription helps the healthcare facilities improve resource utilization. Healthcare facilities can save on resources like capital, real estate, salaries & taxes, management personnel, Information technology personnel and various other resources by outsourcing medical transcription.

Outsourcing medical transcription to a professional medical transcription service provider not only saves on cost and improves resource utilization, but also quickens the receivables cycle.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing outsourced medical transcription services for over a decade, helping healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals optimize their resource utilization.. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, done by expert medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: What is important accuracy or turnaround time?

While outsourcing medical transcription what is more important accuracy or turnaround time?

To answer this question, it is vital to understand the healthcare process and the role of medical transcription in the healthcare process.

Healthcare is a service that comes with great responsibilities being one of the basic necessities of life - saving lives and improving quality of life. As healthcare is a service that depends on various inputs to ensure quality on a continued basis, healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals are constantly endeavoring to provide better services to their patients by improving facilities, adding new equipment and enhancing skill levels.  The process of healthcare is a continuous one depending on many inputs, one of them being information regarding patients.

Considering the dependence of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals on the information available in patient records it is very important that patient records are created capturing maximum details. Having detailed records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter helps healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities in the following:

• Saving on time
• Providing background information
• Important details of the patient's past medical history
• Current medications, preventing wrong drug interaction
• Allergies
• In case of a healthcare emergency, the only source of information
• Providing continuity of care during shift changes
• Providing evidence in case of malpractice litigation
• Providing information for referrals to specialists
• Preventing wastage of resources by preserving a record of tests/ X rays etc
• Providing information for billing of services

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient records by converting the audio of the patient- healthcare professional encounter into text format. Medical transcription aids in the healthcare process by ensuring that the patient- healthcare professional encounter is captured in its entire entirety by a professional medical transcriptionist trained to be an expert in all the skills required. Outsourcing  medical transcription ensures that the process of creating patient records is a continuous and seamless process.

Considering the role played by outsourced medical transcription services in the healthcare process it is important for patient records to created with maximum accuracy and within a reasonable turnaround time.

What is meant by accuracy?

This means the percentage of accuracy of the completed transcripts vis-à-vis what was dictated. It is important for the information to be captured with maximum accuracy, as the information in the patient records is vital to the healthcare process.

How can the healthcare facility be ensured about outsourced medical transcription services with maximum accuracy?

While outsourcing medical transcription, one of the concerns of healthcare facilities is whether the outsourced medical transcription service provider can deliver accuracy levels as promised. To ensure that the service provider has the capability to deliver quality as promised it is important to evaluate the service provider on the following:

            a) Training methods used

            b) Transcription executed in-house and not through sub contractors

            c) Quality check levels

            d) Availing a free trial

What is turnaround time?

Turnaround time is the duration between uploading dictation to the server and when the final transcribed document is made available to the healthcare facility/ healthcare professional.

How can the healthcare facility be ensured of medical transcription services within reasonable turnaround time?

While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to determine whether the service provider can deliver accurate transcripts within the promised turnaround time, as timely and accurate information is vital to the provision of quality healthcare. There are certain indicators that need to be evaluated to ensure that the service provider can meet turnaround time commitments

            a) Availability of large pool of trained and qualified medical transcriptionists

            b) Use of the right technology

            c) In-house transcription

Evaluating a medical transcription service provider based on all the above criteria will ensure that quality patient records are created on time.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry offers outsourced medical transcription services using the right team, the right process and the right technology. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, executed by experienced and qualified medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!              

To avail accurate and timely medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical Transcription Outsourcing - Combining Expertise and Experience

Outsourcing medical transcription is a vital decision, involving thorough analysis of the needs of the healthcare facilities and what it hopes to gain from outsourcing and then evaluating the medical transcription service provider to ensure that the service provider can provide services as required by the healthcare facility. Medical transcription is a vital ingredient of the healthcare process and outsourcing medical transcription should be done with a lot of caution. One needs to source a service provider who has the right combination of expertise and experience to provide excellent services.

What defines the expertise of the medical transcription service provider?
Expertise refers to the skill or knowledge in a particular field. By this definition it is important to source a service provider whose core business is that of providing outsourced medical transcription services. The expertise of the medical transcription service provider needs to be evaluated on the following criteria:

Team: Quality medical transcription requires the right team to ensure accuracy and turnaround time. The expertise of the medical transcription service provider can be evaluated on the basis of their recruiting and training processes. This would ensure that the service provider has a pool of manpower to draw from as per the transcription requirements

Process: The expertise of the medical transcription service provider can be judged by the processes in place to ensure accuracy, turnaround time and security. A service provider with the right expertise would ensure that none of the criteria for quality medical transcription are compromised by having the correct process in place.

Technology: The expertise of the medical transcription service provider can be evaluated based on the technology used by them to ensure speedy and secure medical transcription services. The technology used by the service provider would ensure maximum benefits with ease of use.

What defines the experience of the medical transcription service provider?
Experience refers to familiarity with a skill or field of knowledge acquired over a period of time by actual practice resulting in superior understanding. By this definition it is important to source a medical transcription service provider who has experience in providing outsourced medical transcription services over a period of time enabling the service provider to understand the specific needs of the customer and provide solutions accordingly. The experience of the medical transcription service provider can be evaluated on the following criteria:

Testimonials: An experienced medical transcription service provider would have experience in providing outsourced medical transcription services to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals of all types. This would reflect in the testimonials / references provided by customers.

Add on benefits: Medical transcription services have evolved from being just a transcription service to that of being a back office support function for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals. An experienced service provider would be aware of the needs of healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals and would provide advanced services including:

a) Flexible modes of dictationb) Archiving
c) Multiple modes of document delivery
d) HL7 interface

While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to choose a medical transcription service provider with both the relevant expertise and experience. This not only ensures accurate, timely and secure medical transcription services, it also ensures major cost saving benefits to healthcare facilities.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has both the relevant experience and expertise. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, done by expert medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Benefit from the experience of the service provider

Medical transcription is the process of converting audio records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter into text format. As information from patient records is a vital ingredient in the process of delivering quality healthcare, medical transcription has earned its place in the healthcare process. The process of medical transcription along with that of healthcare has undergone major changes, requiring more and more expertise to be efficient and economical.

Outsourcing medical transcription to an experienced and professional service provider has proven to be a good fix for the documentation needs of a healthcare facility. Outsourced medical transcription services can be tailored to the specific requirements of the healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals specifications by an experienced medical transcription service provider.

What are the benefits of outsourcing to an experienced medical transcription service provider?

• High accuracy levels for all specialties: An experienced medical transcription service provider would be in a position to provide accurate transcription services for all specialties. Having a team of medical transcriptionists trained to be domain experts in one or two specialties enables the service provider to provide services that take into consideration not only the language, terminology, drugs and procedures pertaining to that specialty, but also include other factors like the templates to be used, the type of report format to be used for the specific specialty during the process of transcription etc. while preparing the transcripts.

• Flexible turnaround time according to requirements: The turnaround time requirements could vary based on the specialty or the specific situation. An experienced medical transcription service provider would have the right team, the right process and the right technology in place to ensure that varied turnaround time requirements are met with.

• Low cost services: Lowering the cost per line of transcription is probably one of the main reasons for outsourcing medical transcription. Outsourcing to an experienced medical transcription service provider can help in this aspect too. A medical transcription service provider with extensive experience would be in a position to provide quality services at a reasonable rate, by virtue of best practices and the benefits of economies of scale.

• Security of confidential patient information: Protecting confidential patient information is not only the moral obligation of the healthcare facility it is also mandated by law. An experienced medical transcription service provider would be aware of the significance of maintaining HIPAA/ HITECH compliance and would have the right measures in place to ensure total security.

• Technology with maximum benefits: An experienced medical transcription service provider would realize that a complete medical transcription solution would require use of technology that provides numerous time saving, effort saving and money saving benefits to the healthcare facilities, healthcare professionals and the support staff.

An experienced service provider would have the right blend of technology and human expertise to provide services with maximum benefits that are easy to use.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has over a decade of experience in serving the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities. TransDyne has used its extensive experience and background in information technology to develop software and tools for medical transcription that ensure maximum benefits and security. TransDyne not only provides complete medical transcription services, but also anticipates the needs of healthcare facilities and provides solutions accordingly.

TransDyne offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, executed by experienced and qualified medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!               

To avail complete medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.