What is HL7 and how does it affect Medical Transcription?

When healthcare facility come across references to HL7 in the context of medical transcription and one always wonder what it is and how it affects healthcare business.

HL7 or Health Level 7 is a standards development organization that is accredited by the American National Standards (ANSI). HL7 creates standards that define how to represent and communicate data related to healthcare.

The importance of having resources and tools that can accept HL7 based transmissions is emphasized in medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process through which the audio records of the patients are transcribed into computer files.

These records form the basis for record keeping, further treatment, and referral to other doctors, as information for insurance claims, as evidence in case of litigation or part of the patient’s Electronic Medical Record. That means that the information in a patient record needs to be shared with various sources.

HL7 focuses on the interface necessities of the whole healthcare organization.  HL7 functions as a standard to ensure that critical healthcare information is made available to various sources without the meaning getting lost.

When a healthcare facility decides to assess the medical transcription service provider on the following criteria:

• Accuracy: This means the percentage of accuracy of the completed transcripts vis-à-vis what was dictated. A minimum of 99% and above would be acceptable.

• Turnaround time: Turnaround time refers to the time taken to revert the transcribed report to the healthcare facility. A Turnaround time of not more than 24 hours for normal reports and 4-12 hours for STAT reports would be considered ideal.

• Data security: The Company being outsourced to should be HIPAA compliant. The Medical Transcription Company has to have adequate security measures to ensure that the confidential data transmitted back and forth is safe and secure.

·       Pricing: This is one of the main benefits that a healthcare facility hopes to have, from the outsourcing option. Pricing should be fair and reasonable for the services rendered. Pricing method should also be transparent and simple so that both parties can verify the same at any stage of the process

·       HL7 integration: It is important to ascertain that the service provider has the ability to interface with other systems in the form of HL7 messages. This would enable easy integration with any EMR system.

TransDyne has the resources and tools to accept HL7 based ADT (Abstract Data Types)/ order transmissions via TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP (Internet Protocol), HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Server) and /or VPN (Virtual Private Network). TransDyne also has the capabilities to transmit back the transcribed document as a HL7 message back to client's interface engine via TCP/IP, HTTPS and or VPN.

ADT feeds accepted for acquiring patient scheduling and demographic information can be done using standard of customized ADT messages. Transcribed reports are transmitted back as text or rich text embedded in multiple ORU segments in a single HL7 message.

For clients needing integration with EMR’s requiring reports to be sent back as HL7 messages, TransDyne can configure the interfaces and deliver reports as HL7 messages and at no additional cost to the client.

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 solutions from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Choose a service provider with the right attitude

Doesn’t everybody really hate those nitpicky, fussy and perfectionist kind of people? They are the people who have to try their hardest to pick at the smallest mistakes and keep on trying till they get it right. Those are the kinds who are never satisfied till the highest level of perfection is achieved.

They have to go through every process more than once and explain everything in minute detail till everything is clear. They are the kind that likes to be called upon to test the skills that they have painstakingly developed.

One may not like their spouse, friends, family members or associates to have this kind of personality. But these are the qualities that a healthcare facility should look for in their medical transcription company. A healthcare facility needs them to be fussy and have an attitude of constantly striving for perfection, as medical transcription has a deep impact on the operations of the healthcare facility.

Quality:  A medical transcription service provider needs to take quality/ accuracy level of transcripts to heart and have measures in place to correct them and guidelines in place to make sure that the same mistakes are not repeated. A medical transcription company, with a perfectionist attitude will also make sure that their training process takes care of these needs by slanting their training needs to developing expert medical transcriptionists. Such a medical transcription company would also take great pride in having all the work in-house through their well-trained and committed employees rather than diluting the quality and violating security by sub-contracting the work.

Service on time: The medical transcription service provider would also take pride in making sure that the turnaround time committed by them is always met using a combination of expert teams, the right processes and the right technology to ensure that turnaround time is met with, without affecting accuracy.

Pricing: A medical transcription company with a perfectionist attitude would also ensure that the pricing is transparent and that there are no ambiguities in the billing method used. This would ensure that the components of cost are clear to both the parties involved to ensure smooth operations.

HIPAA and HITECH compliance: A medical transcription company with a perfectionist attitude would take security of confidential patient information very seriously. This would mean security at all levels like the technology used, securing the premises and educating the teams on the importance of HIPAA compliance.

Technology: As technology has a large role to play in the medical transcription process the medical transcription company needs to understand the role of technology and use technology that provides maximum benefits and still remain easy to use.  This would encompass every step of the transcription process starting with dictation to the delivery of transcripts to healthcare professionals.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions. TransDyne has always strived to create perfect transcription solutions as per the changing needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities.

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.

What are the qualities of a good medical transcriptionist?

When making the decision to outsource medical transcription needs, obviously recruitment and training requirements (with regard to medical transcriptionists) are also being outsourced to the medical transcription company

The quality of the transcripts depends entirely on the quality of transcriptionists. And this will be determined by the selection process and the training provided by the Medical Transcription Company that the healthcare facility chooses.  

What are the qualities that a good medical transcriptionist should have?

• Ability to multitask: Transcription is a skill that requires that a person be able to listen and type at the same time. They also have to be able to use the start/pause/stop function of the audio device. Being able to multitask is an important skill for a medical transcriptionist.

• Comfortable with the Internet: Audio files of the healthcare professional’s encounter with the patient are uploaded into server, these need to be downloaded by the medical transcriptionist and then the finished records need to uploaded to be transmitted to the healthcare facilities. The medical transcriptionist needs to search for difficult terms, words etc in the Internet.  All these activities entail that the medical transcriptionist should be Internet savvy.

• Research abilities: A medical transcriptionist needs to be adept at research whether it is on the Internet or in research books. This is important to ensure that gaps in the report are minimized.

• Speedy typing skills: Not only does a medical transcriptionist have to be accurate, he also has to have the ability to type reasonably fast to ensure that turnaround time guaranteed is met with.

• Good computer skills: Nowadays all medical transcription reports are created on the computer. Different formats are required to be used and headers & footers are required to be added for certain type of reports. Good computer skills are essential for a medical transcriptionist.

• Knowledge of medical terminology: Medical terminology is complex and not generally known to the layman. A good grasp of medical terminology is one of the main qualifications for a medical transcriptionist.

• Above average knowledge of English Grammar, punctuation and usage:  A medical transcriptionist needs to have good language skills along with all the other skills to be able to produce quality transcripts. Wrong usage of words, punctuation errors or any other grammatical errors could totally change the meaning of the report.

• Ability to concentrate filtering outside disturbances etc.:  A medical transcriptionist needs to be able to concentrate on the audio recording and filter out any extra noises in the tape, as well as external noises, in order to be able to produce accurate documents.

• Commitment to confidentiality:  A medical transcriptionist needs to understand that the work entrusted to him needs to be kept confidential as it pertains to private and important data. A serious commitment to maintaining confidentiality is an essential quality for a medical transcriptionist.

• Disciplined: It takes discipline and commitment on the part of the medical transcriptionist to produce accurate records in a timely manner, while maintaining confidentiality.

• An eye for details: To capture all the information and to make sure that it is done accurately, a medical transcriptionist needs to have an eye for details.

• Perfectionist attitude: An attitude of following through on all the difficult words/ terms and making sure that the accuracy of the finished transcript is as close to 100% requires that a medical transcriptionist needs to have a perfectionist attitude.

• Working well under constraints: A medical transcriptionist has to understand the importance of producing quality transcripts in a timely manner while tuning out external disturbances. An ability to work well under constraints is an important quality for a medical transcriptionist. 

• Having a sense of Responsibility, Work Ethics, Integrity and Professional Attitude 

TransDyne believes in recruiting people with the right attitude towards perfection, commitment, and attention to detail, responsibility, commitment to confidentiality etc and developing their inherent aptitude to produce medical transcriptionists of immaculate quality who can provide accurate and timely transcription.

TransDyne believes in developing their aptitude even further by training them in one or two areas of medicine making them domain experts. This helps serve clients even better.

For more details about how to use TransDyne’s superior outsourced medical transcription service, click here.

Reduce management expenses by outsourcing medical transcription.

Does a healthcare facility realize that management expenses form a major cost component of in-house transcription?

When the cost of in-house transcription is computed one of the cost components that is often overlooked is the cost of managing the in-house transcription needs. Managing medical transcription in-house would typically involve the following management activities:

Sourcing the right people: This would involve advertising for people and assessing the quality of people before recruiting them as transcriptionists.

Sourcing equipment: This would involve assessing the equipment requirements (including computers, listening devices, foot pedals, printers, stationery etc.) And then acquiring them for the right price

Sourcing technology: The technology required for starting up medical transcription like software for routing, firewalls, encryptions, uploading, downloading and archival features etc need to be assessed and acquired.

 

Space allocation: There would be certain space needs for carrying out transcription work in-house this needs to be assessed and allocated.

Training the people: People need to be trained on the work requirements and procedures to be followed etc.

Once the resources are in place then the next step is execution of the work which involves the following steps:

Collection of dictation: Dictation of records by doctors needs to be collected in a centralized place for further processing.

Allocation of dictation: Dictated audio files need to be allocated to medical transcriptionists so that they commence with their work.

Supervising the medical transcription work: Work once collected and allocated needs to be supervised to make sure that it is being executed according to the required standards.

Assessing quality: Accuracy/quality of transcribed documents needs to be assessed to minimize errors.

Assessing turnaround time: Turnaround time of reports is very important for the treatment of patients, record keeping and managing receivables etc. hence turnaround time schedules have to be maintained.

Ensuring security: Transcription would entail transmission of confidential files of patients back and forth, care has to be taken to make sure that all the channels of transmission are secure and HIPAA compliant.

Collecting all the transcribed files: All the finished files need to be compiled at one central server for transmission back to the concerned doctors for their records and further use.

Obtaining feedback: Feedback on the quality of reports along with any special formats required needs to be collected from the doctors and communicated to the transcriptionists for implementation.

Updating/training medical transcriptionists on latest developments: Medical field has new developments on a daily basis in terms of drugs, treatments etc, medical transcriptionists need to be constantly updated about these developments.

Making arrangements for holiday/emergency medical transcription requirements: Due to unpredictability of patient inflow and staff fluctuations during holidays etc arrangements have to be made so that transcription needs are taken care of during these times.

Maintaining archives: Archiving of medical reports for easy access in case of future reference for various purposes.

Arranging Repairs and maintenance for all equipments to prevent breakdowns: Repairs and maintenance of transcription equipments is a constant process required for the smooth execution of transcription work. 

The vast array of management activities required to execute transcription in-house will add to the cost per line of transcription.  When the transcription needs are outsourced, effectively all the management costs and activities associated with in-house transcription will be outsourced. Assessing the medical transcription service provider on the basis of quality/accuracy, pricing, turnaround time and data security is important before making the outsourcing decision.

TransDyne is a professionally managed medical transcription service provider that 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!

For more details about how to use TransDyne’s superior outsourced medical transcription service, click here.

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION: Dictation tips: Make the transcriptionist more efficient

Are health professionals aware that a few small changes in their dictation method could improve accuracy of transcripts enormously?

As a healthcare professional life is all about juggling their time schedules and getting maximum done in minimum time. Proof reading the returned transcripts is one task that they wish they could avoid.  By following a few simple tips given by us they can avoid it!  It is actually very simple and will not take any extra time.

All they need to do is organize and prepare themselves so that they can dictate better and improve the quality of transcripts returned to them. Here are some simple tips to improve the quality of dictation thereby the quality of returned transcripts:

• Allotting some time every day for dictation: Dictating notes of patient visits is a very important task, time needs to be scheduled for this so that these can be completed on time without any backlogs

• Collecting all papers before starting: Now that time has been allotted to do this task, it is also important that all relevant papers/documents are available easily for any reference.

• Knowing the recording equipment: Familiarity with how the equipment works will make the process speedy. Taking time to familiarize themselves with the equipment to be used can help the healthcare professional to dictate better.

• Choosing a quiet place: It is important that the quality of the healthcare professional’s recording is not distorted by any unnecessary noises. A place with least or no amount of noise would be preferable.

• Pausing before starting and ending dictation: A few seconds pause before starting and ending your dictation can prevent the words from sounding clipped.

• Making sure there are no distractions: The time allotted by the healthcare professional for dictation should be without any outside distractions as this would distort the dictation quality and increase the time spent on it.

• Not being self-conscious: Being self-conscious while dictating will make the dictation process awkward and the words will come out garbled and unclear. Taking a deep breath, relaxing and then dictating should help.

• Developing a rhythm that is neither slow nor too fast: While dictating following a rhythm that is not too slow, will stop the medical transcriptionists’ mind from wandering, and not going too fast will help decrease errors in the transcript. Maintaining a clear and steady pace is advised

• Pressing the pause button while taking breaks: Pressing the pause button while taking breaks will prevent the medical transcriptionist from hearing long blanks in the dictation.

• Making sure to spell out difficult names etc: Spelling out difficult and unique names and terms will improve the accuracy and quality of transcription.

• Trying not to eat or drink while dictating: Eating or drinking during dictation will distort the quality of sound and the words will be garbled, making transcription slow, difficult and inaccurate.

• Enunciating words clearly: Difficult medical terminology, procedures, names of drugs needs to be enunciated clearly for accuracy. Sometimes spelling them out also helps.

• Rewinding and listening: Rewinding and listening to the dictation will clarify the areas in which improvements are needed. It will also give the healthcare professional an idea of what the medical transcriptionist goes through while transcribing the dictation.

• Using mike properly: Knowing the equipment and using the mike at the optimum distance specified in the equipment manual will improve quality of dictation and eliminate voice distortion.

• Indicating the start and end of the dictation: Indicating the start and end of the report can make transcription easier.

• Specifying required format at the beginning of the dictation: Any specific formatting required by the healthcare professional should be indicated at the beginning of the dictation to enable the medical transcriptionist to make note of it and act on it.

• Including punctuation: Specifying punctuation while dictating can make the work of the medical transcriptionist easier and there is less scope for guesswork on their part.

• Standardizing dictation terms: Standardize certain reports that are needed to be transcribed and informing the medical transcriptionist at the beginning can help the medical transcriptionist use standard terms as required by the healthcare professional.

 Following these simple dictation tips can help healthcare professionals get better transcription services with accurate and timely transcripts at a fair price. This empowers the medical transcription company to produce transcription services with quality and security.

To know more about superb medical transcription services by TransDyne please click here.

Medical transcription- what to look for in a Transcription service provider: Aptitude or attitude?

What is more important, aptitude or attitude? This is a very relevant issue while deciding to outsource medical transcription needs. What exactly is ‘APTITUDE’ when it comes to judging a Medical Transcription Company?

Some of the attributes that reflect the Aptitude in the medical transcription context are:

• Quality/accuracy meaning the accuracy of the completed transcripts vis-à-vis what was dictated. An aptitude for accurate transcription.

·       Turnaround time refers to the time taken to deliver the transcribed reports. An aptitude for maintaining promised deadlines.

• Data Security means having adequate security measures to ensure that confidential data transmitted back and forth is safe and secure. An aptitude for maintaining virtual security.

 

• Reasonable prices denote prices that are fair and reasonable for the services rendered. An aptitude for fair pricing.

 

• Technology that is easy to use by health professionals, without requiring extensive training. An aptitude for deploying systems that are user- friendly. 

What sort of attitude should be looked at by the healthcare facility when it comes to judging a Medical Transcription Service Provider?

 

The Attitude of a medical transcription service provider can be judged based on the following characteristics:

• Quality guidelines are the standards by which the Medical Transcription company’s employees perform their duties. Quality Guidelines ensure that the quality of work stays consistent at all levels of the company under all circumstances. An attitude for making quality indispensable.

• In house transcription means that the medical transcription service provider that the healthcare facility is outsourcing to, is executing the work in house and not through sub contractors. An attitude for maintaining standard service.

• Transparent and simple billing means having a method of billing which is verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent, fair and honest.  An attitude of transparency.

• Flexibility of dictation methods means offering different options for doctors to dictate their notes.  A flexible and client friendly attitude.

• Specialty based Medical Transcription, means training Medical Transcriptionists with special focus in one or two specialties of medicine to make them domain experts. An attitude for going beyond the ordinary

• Document delivery system that allows for easy uploads and downloads and which will make checking on the status of the reports efficient and convenient. An attitude for making the customer’s work life simpler.

• Free trial without any obligatory sign up giving the healthcare facility a chance to review the services of the medical transcription service provider before signing up.  A confident attitude.

• Testimonials make it possible to find out from others as to how they have benefited from the services of the medical transcription service provider. An honest attitude. 

As can be seen it is important to choose a medical transcription service provider with both the right aptitude and attitude.

TransDyne offers medical transcription with an accuracy of above 99% with a turnaround time of 24 hours & 4-12 hours for STAT reports at a reasonable price, through secure channels and makes it easy to upload and access data. i.e. the Right Aptitude!

TransDyne has quality guidelines in place to ensure quality, executes all medical transcription work in house to ensure security & quality, has a transparent and simple billing method, offers flexible modes of dictation and gets transcription done by expert medical transcriptionists to ensure all special needs are taken care of, through a easy document delivery system, offers a free trial and the testimonials of their satisfied customers. I.e. the Right Attitude!

To avail the total TransDyne advantage of MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION with great aptitude and the right attitude, click here.



Medical transcription- what to look for in a Transcription service provider: Aptitude or attitude?

What is more important, aptitude or attitude? This is a very relevant issue while deciding to outsource medical transcription needs. What exactly is ‘APTITUDE’ when it comes to judging a Medical Transcription Company?

Some of the attributes that reflect the Aptitude in the medical transcription context are:

• Quality/accuracy meaning the accuracy of the completed transcripts vis-à-vis what was dictated. An aptitude for accurate transcription.

·       Turnaround time refers to the time taken to deliver the transcribed reports. An aptitude for maintaining promised deadlines.

• Data Security means having adequate security measures to ensure that confidential data transmitted back and forth is safe and secure. An aptitude for maintaining virtual security.

 

• Reasonable prices denote prices that are fair and reasonable for the services rendered. An aptitude for fair pricing.

 

• Technology that is easy to use by health professionals, without requiring extensive training. An aptitude for deploying systems that are user- friendly. 

What sort of attitude should be looked at by the healthcare facility when it comes to judging a Medical Transcription Service Provider?

 

The Attitude of a medical transcription service provider can be judged based on the following characteristics:

• Quality guidelines are the standards by which the Medical Transcription company’s employees perform their duties. Quality Guidelines ensure that the quality of work stays consistent at all levels of the company under all circumstances. An attitude for making quality indispensable.

• In house transcription means that the medical transcription service provider that the healthcare facility is outsourcing to, is executing the work in house and not through sub contractors. An attitude for maintaining standard service.

• Transparent and simple billing means having a method of billing which is verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent, fair and honest.  An attitude of transparency.

• Flexibility of dictation methods means offering different options for doctors to dictate their notes.  A flexible and client friendly attitude.

• Specialty based Medical Transcription, means training Medical Transcriptionists with special focus in one or two specialties of medicine to make them domain experts. An attitude for going beyond the ordinary

• Document delivery system that allows for easy uploads and downloads and which will make checking on the status of the reports efficient and convenient. An attitude for making the customer’s work life simpler.

• Free trial without any obligatory sign up giving the healthcare facility a chance to review the services of the medical transcription service provider before signing up.  A confident attitude.

• Testimonials make it possible to find out from others as to how they have benefited from the services of the medical transcription service provider. An honest attitude. 

As can be seen it is important to choose a medical transcription service provider with both the right aptitude and attitude.

TransDyne offers medical transcription with an accuracy of above 99% with a turnaround time of 24 hours & 4-12 hours for STAT reports at a reasonable price, through secure channels and makes it easy to upload and access data. i.e. the Right Aptitude!

TransDyne has quality guidelines in place to ensure quality, executes all medical transcription work in house to ensure security & quality, has a transparent and simple billing method, offers flexible modes of dictation and gets transcription done by expert medical transcriptionists to ensure all special needs are taken care of, through a easy document delivery system, offers a free trial and the testimonials of their satisfied customers. I.e. the Right Attitude!

To avail the total TransDyne advantage of MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION with great aptitude and the right attitude, click here.