Medical transcription: Outsourcing improves turnaround time and report accuracy

Outsourcing medical transcription has numerous benefits like reduction in the cost per line of transcription, shortening the accounts receivables cycle, decreasing management expenses and improving utilization of resources that otherwise would have been utilized for medical transcription. But the main benefit of outsourcing of medical transcription is that of increasing the accuracy of medical reports and decreasing turnaround time.

 How does outsourcing medical transcription affect the accuracy of medical reports?

• Core business: Medical transcription is the core business of the medical transcription service provider. This helps improve the accuracy level of the finished transcripts because all the resources of the medical transcription service provider are focused towards medical transcription unlike healthcare facilities whose core business is that of providing quality healthcare and medical transcription is just a support service.

• Superior recruiting and training: The accuracy of the finished transcripts is totally dependent on the caliber of medical transcriptionists. A medical transcription service provider would have a process by which the best talent in the business would constantly be recruited and trained. The medical transcriptionists would not only be trained in the process of general medical transcription, they would also be given specialist training enabling them to become domain experts.  This ensures accuracy of the finished transcripts from the very beginning.

• Multi-level quality checks: A medical transcription service provider would have several levels of quality checks in place to ensure accuracy of the final transcripts. This would mean that the medical record would be subjected to quality checks by several sets of qualified “eyes and ears” to make sure that errors are minimized.

How does outsourcing medical transcription affect the turnaround time of finished transcripts?

• Large pool of qualified medical transcriptionists: A medical transcription service provider would have a large pool of trained and qualified personnel who would be able to cope with the varying requirements of healthcare facilities. This would ensure that the turnaround time guaranteed is met with in spite of factors like shift changes, absenteeism, weekend & holiday transcription requirements.

• Use of technology: A professional medical transcription service provider would use advanced technology to meet both the turnaround time and security requirements. This would mean that the healthcare facility could benefit from this technology through improved turnaround time and security without having to make any additional investments.

 It can be seen that by outsourcing medical transcription to a professionally managed medical transcription service provider a healthcare facility can benefit not only in terms of cost saving but also through increased accuracy and reduced turnaround time.

TransDyne is a professional medical transcription service provider that guarantees an accuracy level of above 99%. TransDyne focuses on the recruitment of quality medical transcriptionists and provides them with specialty training enabling them to provide quality transcription from the very beginning. TransDyne ensures accuracy by adopting a four level quality check of medical transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit in charge and finally by our Quality Assurance (QA) team which tries to minimize errors before returning the finished reports

TransDyne assures a turnaround time of 24 hours from the time of receipt of the audio. STAT reports have a turnaround time of 4-12 hours.  TransDyne offers fast medical transcription and maintains their turnaround time by maintaining a large pool medical transcriptionists who are trained to their stringent standards. TransDyne has a technologically advanced system that has features like automatic uploads and downloads. These features enable the audio files to be uploaded automatically for transcription and also enable the finished transcripts to be made available automatically, improving turnaround time.

Medical transcription services: Family practice

Medical transcription is the process by which audio records of a patient-healthcare professional encounter are converted into text format. Medical transcription is a service closely associated with medicine. And medicine is a vast field having numerous branches and specialties. The needs of each specialty are entirely different. It is required that the medical transcriptionists providing this service are oriented with the terminology associated with the branch of medicine they are working on.

TransDyne understands that the needs of each specialty of medicine are unique. Therefore the transcription requirements of each specialty are different. Knowing this and the importance of creating accurate and timely records, TransDyne has created a unique training program for its medical transcriptionists. Under this program medical transcriptionists are trained to become expert transcriptionists in one or two specialties of medicine.

This means that specially hand picked medical transcriptionists are taught the terminologies, drugs and procedures associated with the specialty. The  transcriptionists  are also kept constantly updated on the latest developments in the field, as medicine is a dynamic field with new developments and discoveries. Work is allotted to the transcriptionists based on the specialty on which they are trained.

Family practice is a medical specialty devoted to comprehensive health care to people of all ages. It is a form of primary care that provides continuing comprehensive healthcare for the individual and family across all ages, sexes, diseases and parts of the body. It is based on the knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion.

TransDyne has a team of specialist medical transcriptionists who are well trained for providing professional medical transcription services for healthcare professionals practicing Family medicine.

TransDyne provides Family practice medical transcription with:

Accuracy levels of above 99%: TransDyne ensures accuracy by providing specialist training to their medical transcriptionists and adopting a four level quality check of medical transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit in charge and finally by the Quality Assurance (QA) team which tries to minimize errors before returning the finished reports

Turnaround time of 24 hours: TransDyne maintains their turnaround time by maintaining a large pool of medical transcriptionists who are trained to their stringent standards. TransDyne has a technologically advanced system that has features like automatic uploads and downloads. These features enable the audio files to be uploaded automatically for transcription and also enable the finished transcripts to be made available automatically, improving turnaround time.

Fair and reasonable prices: TransDyne offers medical transcription at a fair and reasonable price using the “character line” billing method. TransDyne passes on the benefits of economies of scale that comes from being a professional medical transcription service provider to the healthcare facility.

Secure channels: TransDyne provides for security and confidentiality of patient data by use of the right process, the right technology and by training their team on the importance of maintaining security standards.

Technology that is advanced but easy to use: TransDyne believes in using the latest technology to provide maximum benefits to healthcare professionals. TransDyne also believes that technology should be easy to use, given the demands that are made on the limited time available to healthcare professionals.

Medical transcription services: Neurology

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral and autonomic nervous systems including their coverings, blood vessels and all effector tissue, such as muscle. The corresponding surgical specialty is known as neurosurgery. A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology and is trained to investigate or diagnose and treat neurological disorders. Neurologists may also be involved in clinical reasearch, clinical trials as well as basic research and translational research.

Neurology is a medical specialty that requires the healthcare professional practicing it to have the requisite training and qualifications. Similarly transcribing the audio records of neurologists requires that the medical transcriptionists working on it possesses the requisite training and knowledge to be able to provide transcription services with the required accuracy and turnaround time from the very beginning.

Recognizing the need for specialist medical transcriptionists to take care of a specialist’s needs, TransDyne has created a team of medical transcriptionists, proofreaders and editors specializing in neurology transcription.

How does specialist training in neurology transcription affect accuracy levels?
Medical transcriptionists, proofreaders and editors are familiar with all the requisite terminology, procedures and the drugs used in neurology due to the training program aimed at familiarizing the medical transcriptionists with this specialty. This ensures that the error rates in transcripts are drastically reduced and the accuracy levels are high. The team is able to produce high quality reports from the very beginning.

How does specialist training in neurology transcription affect turnaround time?
Due to the training methods used the medical transcriptionists are very familiar with the specific terminology used and are able to produce transcripts with requisite accuracy in optimum turnaround time.

How does specialist training in neurology transcription affect cost per line of transcription?
Due to the reduced error rate and reduced turnaround time the need for multi level quality checks is reduced and the productivity of the medical transcriptionist is enhanced this helps keep the cost of production under control and the benefits of this are passed on to the healthcare facility.

TransDyne provides Neurology medical transcription that is cost efficient, speedy and accurate. Moreover neurologists can benefit from the other features of medical transcription services by TransDyne like:

Data Security: TransDyne ensures data security of medical transcription by incorporating security measures like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security, safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedure and multi modal alerts. TransDyne also ensures data security by ensuring that the data doesn’t leave their premises physically. To ensure secure medical transcription all the transcription is done in the company’s own premises and the premises are secured through appropriate security measures. TransDyne meets and exceeds all HIPAA regulations that apply to electronic exchange of information.

Technology: Considering that time is one of the most precious commodities for healthcare professionals, TransDyne believes in using technology that provides multiple features with ease of use. Some of the features of the software and tools used by TransDyne are as follows:

· Smart upload: TransDyne offers doctors the choice of using modes of dictation they are already comfortable with. Then these files can be uploaded to the servers to be made available for transcription. Smart upload enables transfer of dictation files from the healthcare facility’s server to TransDyne’s server by checking for new dictations at pre-fixed intervals.

· Web Delivery: TransDyne’s web delivery system tackles all issues related with tracking dictations, receiving documents and finding old files form the archives.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Strategic advantages

Due to the advent of Internet, services from all over the world have suddenly become more accessible. As the concept of global village advances, it makes sense for all businesses to outsource non-core activities to make the most of their limited resources. Communication facilities have improved, development of processes have reached maturity and there are well-integrated teams in place to provide specialized services at reasonable rates.

When it comes to healthcare, administrators of healthcare facilities have to deal with shrinking budgets, reduced reimbursements and increased demand for quality healthcare services. It makes sense to strategically outsource those functions that are not part of the core business. Medical transcription is one such function that demands a high level of commitment in terms of both time and resources. Outsourcing medical transcription to a professionally managed medical transcription service provider can provide the healthcare facility with numerous advantages:

1. It streamlines medical transcription: By outsourcing the medical transcription needs of the healthcare facility to a professional medical transcription service provider the process gets streamlined. The medical transcription service provider acts as a one-stop shop to provide varied services with different parameters from one source. Co-ordination for quality, turnaround time, security and pricing becomes simpler.

2. Reduces demand for medical transcription staff: It has been seen that getting the right people to work on transcription is important to meet all parameters like accuracy, turnaround time and security. By outsourcing medical transcription the onus of acquiring the right team is passed on to the service provider.

3. Provides access to additional resources in the form of skill sets and technology: By outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facility can have the advantage of the technology used by the service provider along with the skill sets of the provider’s team.

4. Guarantees reduction in expenses: By outsourcing medical transcription to the right medical transcription service provider, the healthcare facility can expect to benefit from both the skills and the economies of scale of the service provider in terms of drastic reduction in the cost per line of transcription.

5. Special medical transcription needs/problems are attended to immediately: Due to the benefits of having a huge team of skilled medical transcriptionists available to the medical transcription service provider, they would be in a position to accommodate any special needs of the healthcare professionals, whether in terms of formats, or turnaround time or any other parameters required by them.

6. Services improve and become more reliable: Medical transcription is the process of consolidating information regarding the patients’ encounter with the healthcare professional. Timely medical transcription can have a positive impact on the quality of healthcare services by providing timely and accurate information.

To avail the strategic advantages of outsourced medical transcription, the healthcare facility has to undergo a process of identifying their needs and picking out the right service provider.

Medical transcription: Process for outsourcing

Having seen the strategic advantages of outsourcing medical transcription, a healthcare facility needs to adopt a strategy for outsourcing medical transcription that enables them to avail all the advantages.

The process for outsourcing should include the following:

· Selection of appropriate vendor for medical transcription, based on:

a) Long-term experience of the medical transcription service provider: While outsourcing services as vital as medical transcription it pays to be cautious while picking out the provider. History of the provider in providing similar services  is vital. This shows that the medical transcription service provider is prepared in every way to deliver the right solution.

b) Availability of skilled people with the service provider: The quality/ accuracy and the timeliness of the records transcribed are vital for providing quality healthcare and have other uses like the forming the basis of coding & billing and as evidence in case of litigation. The accuracy of the transcripts and the turnaround time are dependent on the skill level of the medical transcriptionists. Therefore it is important that the medical transcription service provider has a team of expert medical transcriptionists.

c) Technical infrastructure available with the service provider: The technological capabilities affects the turnaround time, security of data and the ease of use. Factors like flexible modes of dictation, automatic upload of audio files and download of transcribed records, archiving facilities and HL7 integration are important factors to be analyzed.

d) Pricing: Pricing in medical transcription can be as easy or as complex as the billing method used by the medical transcription service provider. Often prices are discussed without properly qualifying the billable units or the billing method. This leaves room for manipulation and ambiguities. The billing method needs to be verifiable, measurable, definable, consistent and fair& honest.

e) Integration capabilities: The systems/technology used by the service provider needs to easily integrate with the systems of the healthcare facilities. This ensures access to information in an easy and workable manner.

f) Security measures taken by the medical transcription service provider: Patient data is confidential and needs to be protected at every stage. Because the medical transcription process involves the transmission of data through electronic channels and is exposed to medical transcriptionists during the process of transcription, it is highly vulnerable to misuse. Security measures taken by the medical transcription service provider needs to cover technology, process and people to ensure total confidentiality.

g) Investment required for availing the services: One of the main reasons for outsourcing medical transcription is to curb capital investment towards non-healthcare related areas in a healthcare facility. While outsourcing medical transcription, the healthcare facility needs to ensure that no further capital investment is required.

h) Adaptability of service provider to varying demands: The demands of healthcare professionals may vary according to many factors like their specialty, influx of patients and other factors. While choosing a medical transcription service provider it is important to choose one that has experience servicing varied requirements.

i) Customer service channels: Transition from in-house medical transcription to outsourced medical transcription requires a certain period of handholding to make the process smooth. Even after the transition process is complete, there may be numerous instances where instant turnaround on queries is required. An open channel of communication is essential while outsourcing.

· Verifying testimonials: Success stories of clients who have availed of similar services need to be checked before finalizing the outsourced medical transcription service provider.

· Free trial period: Availing a free trial period will ensure that the service provider is capable of delivering services as per the promised criteria.

· The contact: The actual contract needs to be studied and all the requisite parameters required should be included, in a clear and unambiguous manner.

Medical transcription:Cardiology

Medical transcription is a back office function that assists healthcare professionals by creating accurate and speedy records of patient visits. Medicine is a vast and complex field having various specialties. The terminology, treatment procedures and the drugs used in each specialty are different. That is why healthcare professionals train for a particular specialty to become specialists in that field.

Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart and blood vessels. The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians specializing in this field are called Cardiologists. And physicians specializing in surgery related to cardiology are called Cardiac surgeons.

Medical transcription for cardiology services require medical transcriptionists to be well versed in the terminology and familiar with the treatment modes and drugs used. Recognizing the need for professional and skilled medical transcriptionists to transcribe records dictated by cardiology specialists, TransDyne has created a team of medical transcriptionists specializing in Cardiology.

Medical transcriptionists are hand picked during the training period and trained to learn in detail, the terminology, procedures and drugs associated with cardiology.

How does specialty training in Cardiology transcription affect accuracy?
Training a medical transcriptionist in cardiology transcription helps increase accuracy of the finished transcript, by familiarizing the medical transcriptionist with all the terminology and procedures associated with Cardiology. This ensures that the medical transcriptionist does not misspell or misunderstand any of the terms used by the healthcare professionals. The medical transcriptionist is able to produce accurate records from the very beginning without leaving room for guesswork.

How does specialty training in Cardiology transcription affect turnaround time?
Turnaround time refers to the time taken to revert the transcribed report to the healthcare facility. By familiarizing the medical transcriptionist with all the terminology used in cardiology, the turnaround time can be maintained due to the familiarity of the medical transcriptionist with the associated terms and cutting down time spent on research. Moreover the time spent on multi level quality checks would also reduce, reducing the turnaround time.

How does specialty training in Cardiology transcription affect pricing?
Specialty training in Cardiology transcription can help bring down cost per line of transcription, by increasing the productivity of the medical transcriptionist. Moreover due to the increased accuracy of the transcripts the cost of several level quality checks can be reduced.

Apart from offering accurate, timely and reasonably priced cardiology transcription, TransDyne also offers the following:

Data Security: TransDyne ensures data security by incorporating security measures like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security, safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedure and multi modal alerts.

TransDyne further ensures data security by ensuring that data doesn’t leave it’s premises physically. To ensure secure nedical transcription all the transcription is done in TransDyne’s premises and the premises are secured through appropriate security measures. TransDyne meets and exceeds all the HIPAA and HITECH regulations.

Technology: TransDyne believes that the technology used for medical transcription like uploading dictation and downloading finished transcripts should be advanced to ensure reliability, but very easy to use requiring very less or no training. TransDyne also has a system with powerful archival features enabling the healthcare professional to easily trace old records. TransDyne also facilitates HL7 interface for interacting with other systems.

Medical transcription: Radiology

Radiology is the branch of specialty medicine that deals with the study and application of imaging technology like X-ray and radiation for diagnosing and treating disease. Radiologists direct an array of imaging technologies such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose or treat disease.

Scope of radiology also covers:

· Mammography radiology
· Cardiac radiology
· Musculoskeletal radiology
· Neuroradiology
· Pediatric Radiology
· Nuclear radiology

Medical transcription is the process of converting the audio records of healthcare professional-patient encounter into text format, which then forms a permanent part of the patient’s health record. This ensures the continuity of care by ensuring the patient’s detailed health history is available as reference.

Medical transcription for Radiology requires the skill level of medical transcriptionists to be high. The medical transcriptionists need to be well versed in the terminology, techniques and procedures that form part of radiology.

TransDyne acknowledges that the field of medicine is vast and has many specialties; therefore medical transcription for a particular specialty requires the team providing medical transcription support to have in-depth knowledge about the specialty. This ensures that the audio records dictated by the specialists are fully understood by the medical transcriptionists and the records are transcribed with maximum accuracy and within the requisite turnaround time.

TransDyne has a team of specially trained  medical transcriptionists working on radiology medical transcription. This team has been extensively trained on the terminology, techniques and procedures related to radiology.

How does specialty training in Radiology in medical transcription affect accuracy?
Specialist training in radiology medical transcription ensures that the teams working on the transcripts are domain experts. This ensures familiarity with the “language” used by the radiologists and reduces errors dramatically.

How does specialty training in Radiology in medical transcription affect turnaround time?
Turnaround time of the finished transcripts is dependent on the skill level of the medical transcriptionists. Specialty training in radiology transcription helps develop the skill level of the medical transcriptionists, thus enabling them to meet turnaround time commitments.

How does specialty training in Radiology in medical transcription affect pricing?
Specialist training in radiology increases the productivity of medical transcriptionists and also minimizes errors. Both these factors help bring down the cost per line of transcription.

TransDyne gives healthcare professionals in radiology the benefit of specialist transcription maintaining high levels of accuracy, turnaround time and reasonable prices..

Not only that, availing medical transcription services from TransDyne has the following benefits:

Data Security: TransDyne ensures data security of medical transcription by incorporating security measures like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security, safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedure and multi modal alerts. TransDyne also ensures data security by ensuring that the data doesn’t leave their premises physically. To ensure secure medical transcription all the transcription is done in the company’s own premises and the premises are secured through appropriate security measures. TransDyne meets and exceeds all HIPAA and HITECH regulations that apply to electronic exchange of information.

Technology: Considering that time is one of the most precious commodities for healthcare professionals, TransDyne believes in using technology that provides multiple features with ease of use. Some of the features of the software and tools used by TransDyne are as follows:

· Smart upload: TransDyne offers doctors the choice of using modes of dictation they are already comfortable with. Then these files can be uploaded to the servers to be made available for transcription. Smart upload enables transfer of dictation files from the healthcare facility’s server to TransDyne’s server by checking for new dictations at pre-fixed intervals.

· Web Delivery: TransDyne’s web delivery system tackles all issues related with tracking dictations, receiving documents and finding old files form the archives.

· Smart Delivery: Smart delivery is an automated program that addresses the automatic downloads, saving files and printing needs of a healthcare facility.

· HL7 integration: TransDyne can configure and send healthcare information as HL7 messages to the client’s EMR with no additional costs.

Medical transcription: How does outsourcing help increase cash flow?

Outsourcing is the process of obtaining certain services through an outside service provider. Usually the services that are outsourced are essential services that form part of the costs. Outsourcing is a good method to cut down costs and sharpen focus on the core business.

Medical transcription is the process of creating medical records of the patient -healthcare professional encounter. Though medical transcription is an essential part of the healthcare process and plays an important role in the receivable cycle, it is not part of the core competence of the healthcare facility. Outsourcing medical transcription to professional service provider is a cost effective method of record creation in a timely, accurate and secure way.

Apart from the obvious advantages of outsourcing medical transcription, there is the added advantage of increased cash flow.

How does outsourcing of medical transcription services improve cash flow?

· By restricting cost of transcription: Outsourcing medical transcription limits the cost of transcription to the cost per line of transcription. There is no wastage of idle production capacity during slack times and no extra expenses for medical transcription when the patient influx is high. A professional medical transcription service provider would provide a package deal including weekend and holiday transcription requirements.

· By reducing investment in infrastructure: Outsourcing medical transcription eliminates the need for investment in capital investment like computers, furniture, and servers with regard to medical transcription. The healthcare facility can channel these funds for other purposes.

· By reducing expenses in utilities: In-house transcription would incur a large expense in terms of utilities like power, Internet etc. by outsourcing medical transcription the cost of utilities would be dramatically reduced, thus improving the cash flow.

· By shortening the receivables cycle: It is a known fact that the medical record of the patient is the basis for coding and billing and medical transcription is the process of creating these records. Timely medical transcription accelerates the process of reimbursement, thus improving cash flow.

TransDyne is a professionally managed medical transcription service provider that has been providing outsourced medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne provides medical transcription services, which are tailored to suit the specific needs of different healthcare facilities. Apart from increasing the cash flow of a healthcare facility, the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne are:

Medical transcription: Understanding cost

Medical transcription is the process of converting audio files of the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format. These records form a part of the permanent patient record and are used for various purposes, including coding and billing for the purpose of reimbursements. Medical records are a valuable resource to the healthcare professional for providing quality healthcare on a timely basis.

In spite of being an important part of the healthcare process and an accelerant of the receivables cycle, medical transcription is one of the cost factors. To understand the cost of medical transcription it is important to evaluate all options available for availing medical transcription and evaluate the cost components of each method. A healthcare facility can avail medical transcription services by the following means:

By having an in-house transcription team: To calculate the cost per line of transcription under this method, the healthcare facility needs to include indirect costs like cost of real estate, overheads, utilities, managerial/supervisory costs, cost of training, cost of repairs & maintenance, cost of weekend & holiday transcription, cost of Information Technology(IT)  along with  direct costs like Salaries and benefits paid to the medical transcriptionists. Factors like cost of overtime and loss of productivity during slack hours also need to be added to arrive at realistic costs.

By having independent contractors working for them: To calculate the costs under this method, apart from the cost per line of transcription, factors like cost of coordination of transcription activities, cost of in-house IT towards medical transcription, server costs for upload & download of files, cost of equipment & software provided to the Independent contractors, cost of security measures, needs to be added to arrive at the actual cost per line of transcription.

By outsourcing to a professional medical transcription service provider: Under this option the cost per line of medical transcription is clearly defined by the service provider. However the medical transcription service provider needs to be evaluated on  accuracy, turnaround time, security, technology used and the billing method before arriving at the final costs.

By having a combination of the above methods: Using more than one source to meet medical transcription needs can lead to complexities like different methods of billing, different methods of calculating accuracy, different technology used by different providers, cost of coordination and the additional cost of ensuring security of data. This method could probably create confusion and additional work.

In conclusion, it can safely be said that outsourcing to a professionally managed medical transcription service provider can help the healthcare facility curb costs and limit it to the cost per line of transcription. However while doing so, care needs to be taken to evaluate the medical transcription service provider on the following:

· Billing method
· Security measures taken by the medical transcription service provider
· Quality measures to obtain accuracy
· Turnaround time
· Technology

TransDyne is a professionally managed medical transcription service provider. Some of the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne are given below:

Fair and transparent method of billing: TransDyne uses the character line method of billing. This method is measurable, verifiable, definable, consistent and fair & honest. TransDyne takes care to explain the billing method in detail at the very beginning so that both parties understand all the components of cost.

Secure medical transcription: TransDyne ensures security of confidential patient data by securing technology, infrastructure and people & processes. The methods used by TransDyne to ensure security of data not only meet HIPAA and HITECH standards but also exceed them.

Accuracy of above 99%: TransDyne ensures accuracy levels by training their medical transcriptionists in one or two specialties making them domain experts enabling to transcribe at top quality. TransDyne further adopts a four level quality check method to attain maximum accuracy.

Turnaround time of 24 hours: TransDyne ensures turnaround time using the right technology, the right training method and the right people.

Medical transcription services for Podiatry

Podiatry is a branch of healthcare devoted to the study, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower leg. A podiatrist is a doctor of Podiatric medicine,  also known as podiatric physician or surgeon, qualified by his/her education and training to diagnose and treat conditions affecting the foot, ankle and related structures of the leg. Podiatrists are uniquely qualified among medical professionals to treat the foot and ankle based on their education, training and experience.

Medical transcription is a service allied with the field of healthcare by creating accurate, timely and reasonably priced records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. To provide medical transcription based on all the parameters, medical transcriptionists needs to be well versed in the language of medicine, along with listening skills, keyboarding skills and research abilities.

Having acknowledged that catering to special needs requires a higher level of expertise, TransDyne has geared their training practices to meet these needs. TransDyne has formed special teams of medical transcriptionists who are trained in specific specialties, to make them domain experts in that specialty. TransDyne has a team of medical transcriptionists who have been trained in podiatry to enable them to provide podiatry medical transcription services.

How does specialty training in podiatry medical transcription affect accuracy?
Specialist training in podiatry ensures that the medical transcriptionist is well versed in the terminology and the procedures used in podiatry, thus ensuring that the complex terminology is easily understood by the medical transcriptionists, ensuring that the highest levels of accuracy are maintained from the very beginning.

How does specialty training in podiatry medical transcription affect turnaround time?
Specialist training in podiatry medical transcription enables medical transcriptionists to not only achieve high levels of accuracy but also enables them to meet the turnaround time committed. Moreover due to the high level of accuracy, the need for more number of quality checks are reduced, thus reducing turnaround time.

How does specialty training in podiatry medical transcription affect pricing?
The productivity of the medical transcriptionist are high, the accuracy levels are high and the need for quality checks are lowered, thus reducing the cost per line of transcription. The healthcare facility  benefits in terms of cost saving due to the expertise of the medical transcriptionists.

Apart from meeting the commitments of higher levels of accuracy and turnaround time, at lower prices, Podiatry medical transcription by TransDyne has the following benefits:

Data Security: TransDyne ensures Data security by incorporating security measures like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security, safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedure and multi modal alerts.

TransDyne further ensures data security by ensuring that data doesn’t leave its premises physically. To ensure secure medical transcription all the transcription is done in TransDyne’s premises and the premises are secured through appropriate security measures. TransDyne meets and exceeds all the HIPAA and HITECH regulations.

Technology: TransDyne believes that the technology used for medical transcription like uploading dictation and downloading finished transcripts should be advanced to ensure reliability, but very easy to use requiring very less or no training. TransDyne also has a system with powerful archival features enabling the healthcare professional to easily trace old records. TransDyne also facilitates HL7 interface for interacting with other systems.

Medical transcription: Document Delivery system

Medical transcription has evolved a lot since the days of typewriters and micro cassettes. The days of dependence of healthcare facilities on the courier services are long gone. This is the electronic era where information is available  at the touch of a button or at the click of a mouse.

When a healthcare facility is looking at options for outsourcing medical transcription, it is important to keep Document Delivery Systems in mind while making the final decision. Accuracy of the transcript vis-à-vis the audio dictated, turnaround time of the transcripts, pricing of the service,security of data,  all these factors are very important for decision making, but Document Delivery system should be given equal importance for ease of usage.

No Health professional would like to spend an enormous amount of time on tracing reports and following up the delivery of finished transcripts. Then there is the matter of Data Security while transmitting confidential electronic data. Taking all these factors into consideration it is important for a healthcare facility to choose a medical transcription service provider that can provide an automatic and secure Document Delivery System.

It is important to choose a system which enables support staff to track dictations sent on any particular day, the number of documents in a single dictation etc to ensure that all documents were transcribed and stored.

TransDyne offers the best technology for all functions related to uploading of dictation files and downloading of finished transcripts. TransDyne has made sure that the technology used is very simple to operate. Some or the facilities offered by TransDyne are as follows:

Web Delivery
TransDyne offers  Web delivery system with multiple features that are easy to use making it an important component of medical transcription tools. TransDyne’s Web Delivery System addresses all the problems associated with tracking dictations, receiving documents, and in accessing old records from archives. The Web Delivery system is a browser-based system, and enables users to work with little or no software on their computer.

Some of the advantages of the Web Delivery system are:

· Reduce work in filing and tracking dictations
· Zero investment in hardware and software
· Configuration is flexible according to the number of users
· Up gradation is continuous without changes in the client’s computer.

Smart delivery
Smart delivery is a document retrieval system that enables automated download, saving and printing. It has features like:

· Inbox: Where all newly delivered documents are displayed.
· Automated downloads: Automatically download newly delivered documents into the folder specified.
· Automated printing: This enables auto printing for specified users and specified printers.
· User profiles: Multiple users can be configured into the system and can be assigned access privileges.
· Powerful archival and search options: The system enables user to search based on different criteria.

Some of the advantages of the Smart Delivery system are:

· Ease of tracking all new documents
· Automated downloads and printing
· User defined folder paths to enable easy imports to EMR systems
· User defined user profiles to use in a multi-user environment

Smart upload
TransDyne offers dictators the choice of using any dictation mode. Users can choose to dictate into the phone system, use their existing dictation system or use a digital recorder and transfer the dictations to the servers. The Smart Upload utility helps users transfer files from their computers or dictation systems to TransDyne’s servers. Smart Upload facilitates transfer of dictated files by checking at predefined intervals.

Voice Recognition and medical transcription

Is voice recognition the new solution for medical transcription needs? Voice recognition or speech recognition is one of the new developments in the medical transcription field. It has been touted as the solution for a health provider’s documentation needs.

How does it work? The doctor is offered a digital platform by the Voice recognition service provider where the doctor can dial in and dictate his patient notes at the end of the day. The software converts it to typed form, which is made available to the doctor to edit and correct as needed.

Seems simple enough. But is it as simple as that? Apparently not! Voice recognition needs to be evaluated on all the criteria used while finalizing a healthcare facility’s medical transcription service provider.

Time saved: When medical transcription needs are outsourced one of the main benefits is the time saving factor. Time is a precious commodity for Doctors and they would like to utilize it for providing quality care to their patients. But when voice recognition software is used the doctor has to spend more time on it in the following areas:

1. Training time: Voice recognition software requires the doctor to personally ‘train’ the software on the speech pattern, accent, standard terms and various nuances of his/her speech pattern so that the software can ‘learn’ it and adapt accordingly. This could involve a huge time commitment from the doctor using it, which he may ill afford to make.

2. Time for dictation: Voice recognition software requires the doctor to change his style of dictation to include punctuations, grammar, spellings, detailed terminology, paragraph and report start and ending etc., as opposed to the free flow form of dictations that the doctors are used to.

3. Time for editing: Unlike the traditional method of medical transcription where the records are subject to rigorous proof reading and quality checks, here the doctor needs to spend considerable time editing and correcting before signing off on the reports

Accuracy: The accuracy levels of the finished reports is of utmost importance as it affects care of the patients at every level as well as forming the basis for all further documentation needs. The accuracy level from voice recognition software is found to be about 60%-65%. That means correcting and editing the documents have to make up for the remaining 35%-40% accuracy.

Cost: The cost factor for voice recognition software will vary according to the number of users and the size of the organization. It will also have to factor in additional costs required for editing the documents to an acceptable level. One may find that it is costing more per line than was quoted in the beginning.

Learning curve: When healthcare facilities look for solutions for producing their patients’ medical records they would like to have solutions that are expert and accurate from the very beginning. In the case of voice recognition software there is a definite learning curve that affects the quality of finished reports till the software ‘learns’ to follow a particular doctor’s speech patterns and even then the accuracy levels are only 60%-65%.

Flexibility: When new doctors are added to the practice the voice recognition software has to be trained further to accept the speech nuances of the new joiners. There is no flexibility offered by voice recognition software for this.

In conclusion it can safely be said that voice recognition software will never be able to completely replace manual medical transcription. The important point to be considered here is that medical records are created of human beings, dictated by human beings and therefore needs another human being to transcribe it. Medical transcriptionists will have an important role to play at least as editors and proofreaders.

Medical transcription requires a certain amount of training, subjective judgment and understanding the context to be accurate and relevant, which will not be possible to achieve completely through software, no matter how expertly created. For the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility one should look for a company that offers commitment on accuracy, turnaround time, reasonable pricing and data security.

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!

Unleashing core business potential by outsourcing medical transcription

Providing quality healthcare and making a profit while doing so are the goals of a healthcare facility. Outsourcing medical transcription can help achieve both the goals.

How does medical transcription help in the provision of quality healthcare?

· By creating accurate records: The continued quality of healthcare depends on availability of accurate information. Outsourcing of medical transcription ensures that medical records are transcribed by experienced and expert medical transcriptionists ensuring maximum accuracy.

· By creating timely records: Timely records are vital for providing quality healthcare, by outsourcing the medical transcription function a healthcare facility can be ensured that transcription would be timely because of a availability of a large pool of qualified personnel at all times. The turnaround time of the finished transcripts are also ensured by use of technology that has features that provides the convenience of using flexible modes of dictation, easy upload of audio files, easy download of finished transcripts.

How does medical transcription help in profitability?

· By creating records at reasonable price: The cost per line of medical transcription can be cut down dramatically by outsourcing to a professionally managed medical transcription service provider. The healthcare facility can benefit from the economies of scale of the medical transcription company. The billing method used by the medical transcription service provider also has bearing on the cost per line of transcription and this in turn affects profitability.

· By cutting down associated costs: Outsourcing of medical transcription would also have enormous cost saving benefits like, managerial expenses, real estate costs, cost of utilities, cost of information technology, capital investment in medical transcription equipment among many other expenses, to the healthcare facility. One of the main benefits of outsourcing medical transcription is that it accelerates the receivables cycle. This ensures that the process of reimbursement is quickened leading to profitability

· By creating records through secure channels: Choosing a HIPAA compliant medical transcription company for outsourcing medical transcription needs that healthcare facility would be able to protect itself against any litigations arising out of potential data security breaches. This could mean a huge potential saving for the healthcare facility

One can see that choosing a professionally managed medical transcription service provider as a long-term partner for creation of medical records, can have an impact on the bottom line of the healthcare facility. It is vital that the process of selection should include a company, which is able to provide all these benefits.

TransDyne offers quality Medical Transcription with an accuracy level of above 99% Accuracy levels are achieved by training medical transcriptionist in specific areas of medicine making them domain experts and having a four level quality check to eliminate errors.

TransDyne offers medical transcription at reasonable prices by using a fair and reasonable method, achieving and passing on the benefits of economies of scale, and executing all medical transcription work in-house.

TransDyne offers quick turnaround time for medical transcription work by use of the right technology and well-trained medical transcriptionists.

Medical transcription: Why dictation is an important part in medical record creation?

Why document the patient-doctor encounter?
The documentation of the patient-doctor encounter takes place for a number of reasons, some of which are given below:

1. Records provide the medical history of the patient enabling healthcare professionals to administer the best care possible.
2. It is legally mandatory to maintain patient records.
3. Patient records provide the basis for referrals
4. Patient records are the basis on which insurance claims are made
5. Patient records provide evidence in case of malpractice suits.

Having looked at the importance of having to create medical records, now the focus is on the process of record creation. Medical transcription plays an important part in the speedy and accurate creation of medical records. The medical transcription process starts when the doctor dictates notes of the patient encounter into a recording device.

The necessity of the doctors dictating notes rather than directly typing out the reports has been questioned time and again. Let us examine why dictation is necessary:

Time: Time is a scarce commodity for healthcare professionals and dictating free style could be squeezed in at any time of the day, and would not require any equipment other than their phone. Dictating notes would also take less time than actually typing as it has been proven than people can talk faster than they can type.

Expertise: The skill set of a doctor may not necessarily include typing speedily and accurately.

Speed: A medical transcriptionist could have better typing speed than a doctor. Moreover the creation of patient records would be speedier by medical transcriptionists as this is their only work; therefore the focus is totally on this.

Ease of use: It is easier for the doctor to dictate into his recording device while doing other things than to sit and type out the report.

Expense: It is cheaper for a medical transcriptionist to transcribe the report rather than the doctor waste his expertise and productivity on this task.

It is therefore better for doctors to focus on their business; providing quality healthcare and for the medical transcription service provider to focus on their business; Expert medical transcription and medical record creation.

How to improve dictation quality?
The advantages of dictating vis-à-vis typing are numerous, given below are some tips as to how dictation can be improved to improve the accuracy of the transcribed reports:

· Allot time for dictation: This will help the doctors to complete documenting the patient encounter when their memory is still fresh and capture all the details.

· Allot space: Allotting a convenient space for dictation will ensure that factors like noise, distractions do not affect the quality of recording.

· Collect papers: Collecting all the documents/reports required will help the doctor finish dictating accurately in less time.

· Speak at a steady pace: Speaking a steady pace will ensure that words are not garbled and help the medical transcriptionist focus.

· Spell difficult terms: Spelling difficult terms will ensure that the data captured is accurate.

· Rewind and listen: Sometimes rewinding oneself and listening to the dictation will help clarity by highlighting the areas for improvement.

· Know the equipment: Knowing the equipment being used for dictation will help the doctor to modulate his dictation, mike distance, stop/start features etc.

· Relax while dictating: Treat the time spent dictating, as time for a break and this will help the doctor relax and capture all details.

· Pause during interruptions: In case of any interruptions, it is better to use the pause button so that extraneous data is not captured.

Following these simple instructions will go a long way to help create accurate transcripts at an optimum turnaround time

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!

Medical transcription outsourcing can increase productivity

How does outsourced medical transcription help healthcare professionals increase productivity?

By leaving healthcare professionals with more time to focus on providing quality healthcare. That is a very simple answer and does not really highlight the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription. Let us examine in detail how outsourced medical transcription enhances a healthcare professional’s productivity

1. By providing a highly skilled team of medical transcriptionists

By outsourcing the medical transcription function, a healthcare professional essentially gains in terms of a huge team of well-trained and professional medical transcriptionists who can ensure that the patient-healthcare professional encounter is documented accurately and the finished transcripts are available in a timely manner.

This ensures that healthcare professionals can focus on their work and enhance productivity rather than waste time checking the accuracy level of transcripts. Having accurate information available on time helps quicken the healthcare process.

2. By using technology which is reliable and secure

By using technology that is reliable and secure, the medical transcription service provider can provide three pronged benefits:

· Capital saved on technology investments
· Assured turnaround time, reducing the need for constant follow-up
· Security of data during transmission is ensured

3. By quickening the accounts receivable cycle

Medical transcription is the first stage of the accounts receivables cycle. By outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facility can be assured that the first stage of the accounts receivable cycle is cleared in a timely manner.

4. By letting healthcare professionals use familiar modes of dictation

Outsourcing to a medical transcription service provider that lets the doctors use familiar methods of dictation would ensure that doctors can utilize their time in the best way possible, thereby increasing productivity.

It can be seen that medical transcription companies do not just document the patient –doctor encounter, they free up valuable resources like time, money, manpower and technology by providing an important and value added service. Choosing the right medical transcription service provider can really improve the productivity of a healthcare professional and increase the profitability of the healthcare facility.

Apart from increasing the productivity of healthcare professional, outsourcing medical transcription has added benefits like:

· Reduction in the cost per line of transcription
· Cost of transcription is limited to cost per line and not for idle capacity during slow periods.
· Holiday and weekend transcription needs are met without any added expenses.
· Outsourcing medical transcription leaves the healthcare facility administration free to concentrate on the core business.
· Savings on real estate costs that is allocated for the in-house transcription staff.
· Reduction in information technology costs
· Reduction in management expenses towards medical transcription
· Centralized information flow
· One stop solution for all medical transcription needs

Medical transcription is an important cog in the machinery of healthcare services. By outsourcing medical transcription needs a healthcare facility can avail of this vital service at economical rates, with added benefits of assured turnaround time, advanced technology and services that are HIPAA compliant.

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!

How important is turnaround time guarantee while choosing a medical transcription service provider?

Turnaround time guarantee given by the medical transcription service provider plays an important role in the service provider selection process.

Why is turnaround time guarantee a deciding factor in outsourcing medical transcription?
To answer this question, one needs to examine the importance of medical transcription and the part it plays in the provision of quality healthcare. Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. These records then serve as the foundation for providing healthcare, for referring to specialists, as evidence in case of litigation and form the basis for billing.

One can see that the quality of healthcare hinges on the availability of accurate and timely information, therefore turnaround time for medical transcription is very important for a healthcare facility.

What is turnaround time?
Turnaround time is the time between when the audio files are uploaded to the time when the final transcripts are made available to the healthcare professional. Ideal turnaround time would depend on the type of report. For most reports a turnaround time of 24 hours would be considered ideal, but STAT reports would require a turnaround time of 4-12 hours.

How can a healthcare facility be ensured that the committed turnaround time would be met?
This would require the healthcare facility to have a careful screening process of various medical transcription service providers. To ensure that a service provider would stand by their guarantee they need to be evaluated on the following:

· Technology used: The technology used by the medical transcription service provider will have a direct impact on the turnaround time.

· Training methods used: A team of well-trained medical transcriptionists would ensure that the turnaround time guaranteed by the medical transcription service provider would be met without any compromise to quality.

· Quality assurance methods used: The methods used to ensure quality would not only ensure accuracy but also save a lot of time in correction of errors, thereby fine-tuning the turnaround time.

· In-house transcription: Transcription done in-house and not through sub-contractors would cut down on turnaround time by avoiding dilution of control over the process of transcription.

TransDyne stands head and shoulder above the others in terms of not only quality/accuracy of transcripts, fair pricing, data security but also in terms of turnaround time guarantee.

How does TransDyne guarantee turnaround time?

TransDyne uses the right technology: TransDyne adopts the best technology like Smart upload, Smart Delivery, and web delivery to ensure that the turnaround time is met.

TransDyne has refined its’ training methods: TransDyne has taken training of its’ medical transcriptionists to the next level by training them in one or two areas of medicine to make them domain specialists. This ensures that the turnaround time is met with from the very beginning.

TransDyne has  four level quality checks: TransDyne has a stringent quality control method in place involving medical transcriptionist, proofreader, unit-incharge and quality assurance team to ensure quality issues are solved on time and not affect turnaround time.

TransDyne does not use sub-contractors: TransDyne believes in executing all the work in-house thereby saving on time and at the same time ensuring accuracy and data security.

Medical transcription: Smart Delivery system for EMR adoption

ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) or Economic Stimulus bill was introduced in February 2009, aimed at spurring economic growth across multiple industries through Government spending. Out of this $ 19 billion was aimed at the healthcare Industry by way of incentives for meaningful adoption and implementation of EHR (Electronic Health Record) also known as EMR (Electronic Medical Record).

What is EMR/EHR?

Given below are the definitions of EMR and EHR

EMR: Is the electronic record of health related information on an individual that is created, gathered, managed and consulted by licensed clinicians and staff from a single organization involved in the individual’s health and care.

EHR: is the aggregate electronic health related information on an individual that is created and gathered cumulatively across more than one health care organization and is managed and consulted by licensed clinicians and staff involved in the individual’s health and care

Implementation of EMR/EHR has several benefits apart from that of the financial stimulus offered. These benefits include customizable templates according to doctor requirements, consistent & accurate data, easy retrieval and data input by pointing and clicking.

Having said that one needs to look at the down side of Direct Data Entry by doctors into the EMR/EHR system:

· Lack the convenience of free form of dictation that allowed the doctors flexibility of time while allowing them to avail the benefits of comprehensively capturing data.

· More time spent on data entry rather than on patient care that could lead to loss of productivity of doctors causing them to treat lesser number of patients.

· Lack of eye contact while entering data with patients could lead to dilution of the “Bedside Manner” which forms an integral part of the personal care that patients expect.

· Only tech-savvy doctors can adapt to this method.

· Patient information would be in identical formats without the inclusion of personalized data that is an important part of healthcare.

· Affect the bottom line of the healthcare facility in a negative way due to loss of productivity.

Having seen the benefits and the downside of EMR/EHR adoption one can see that the adoption of EMR/EHR through direct data entry by doctors can have a learning curve and lead to a loss of productivity. This may seriously hinder the transition and delay the adoption process. To solve this one needs to look at the possibility of adopting EMR/EHR while still retaining the traditional medical transcription method for creating records.

This could help overcome issues like loss of productivity leading to erosion of bottom line, personal care for patients etc. One needs to look for a medical transcription service provider that has the capabilities to import patient information to the EMR system while at the same time able to maintain accuracy, turnaround time and offer reasonable rates.

TransDyne has a smart delivery system, which has features like User defined folder paths to enable easy imports to EMR systems. The Smart Delivery system is the suggested mode of document delivery where pre-defined file saving would help import documents to EMR systems.

Not only that 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!

Medical transcription: What is meant by HIPAA compliant systems?

HIPAA(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects the health insurance coverage of workers when they lose employment or change their employers. HIPAA also covers the privacy of identifiable health information (PHI- Personal Health Information) regardless of the format in which it exists, including electronic, written or verbal.

HIPAA applies to:

· Health care providers
· Health plans
· Health care clearinghouses
· Any such third parties that perform services involving PHI or exchange electronic data on behalf of the healthcare facility.

Under the last category HIPAA applies to medical transcription service providers, as they are involved in providing a service that involves the electronic transmission of PHI.

HIPAA and outsourced medical transcription

As already stated HIPAA applies to medical transcription because medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. And the process of outsourcing medical transcription to a medical transcription service provider would involve:

· Uploading audio files (narration of patient-healthcare professional encounter) to the server
· Transmission of audio files
· Downloading the audio files
· Transcribing the audio files
· Transmission of the finished transcripts
· Downloading the finished transcripts by the healthcare facility.

Considering the procedure involved security of data is applicable at all stages:

1. When Data is at rest: This would be safety of data when it is stored prior to transmission to the medical transcription service provider and when the finished transcripts are stored before transmitting back to the healthcare facility.

2. When Data is in motion: This would include safety of data during uploading audio files, transmission of audio files, downloading audio files and transmission of finished transcripts

3. When Data is in use: This would involve safety of data when the audio files are being transcribed.

4. When Data is disposed: This would involve safely disposing of defunct files in such a way to ensure that they are completely destroyed and cannot be accessed by unauthorized entities.

How does TransDyne ensure HIPAA compliance while providing medical transcription services?

· Use of the right systems and software: The use of 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedures and multi-modal alerts safeguards data when it is at rest and when data is in motion.

· Use of processes: Use of processes like company owned & managed facilities, not engaging any sub-contractors, employing manned security at the entry/exit points, round-the-clock video surveillance and the lack of removable storage media protect the data in use. The other measures taken for ensuring security of data in use are limiting the access to the application by User ID and an encrypted password. Access to files is limited based on the user’s role. Once a user is logged in, if no activity is performed for certain time, the user is automatically logged out of the system. This ensures that there is complete security of data when it in use.

· Educating people: Educating people on the importance and procedures for HIPAA compliance gives them a professional outlook. Having them give a commitment in writing further ensure HIPAA compliancy. This protects the data in all stages.

TransDyne believes in maintaining security standards that not only meet HIPAA standards, but also exceed them. Not only HIPAA compliance of outsourced medical transcription services, TransDyne also ensures accuracy of above 99%, guaranteed turnaround time of 24 hours with an option of 4-12 hour turnaround time for STAT reports at a very reasonable price!

Outsourcing medical transcription: The right solution for healthcare facilities to cope with expansion plans

In today’s world change is the one thing, which is constant. Change has never been more relevant than when it comes to healthcare. A healthcare facility has to cope up with the latest developments in healthcare, all the while stretching their budgets to the limit. The latest equipment, the latest techniques, adding on new specialties to the existing practice, all this can put a strain on limited resources.

As the scope of operations of a healthcare facility keep expanding their back office requirements like medical transcription and medical billing needs also expand accordingly. As this happens the first reaction of the healthcare facility is to add on more staff to cope up with increasing medical transcription needs or alternately outsource the overflow of transcription requirements to independent contractors or to a medical transcription service provider or a combination of all three.

This move provides a solution albeit temporarily. But as time passes there could be serious discrepancies in terms of the following:

· Quality of reports: The accuracy level or the quality of the finished transcripts depends totally on the quality of people working on it. Use of varied sources to cope with medical transcription needs can dilute the quality control. This could have an impact on the quality of healthcare.

· Turnaround time: Having varied turnaround time would mean that all the data needed to make an informed decision would not be available to the healthcare professional at the right time, which can affect the timeliness of the care imparted.

· Cost per line of transcription: Having transcription done by various sources would mean that the cost per line of transcription would increase.

· Systems/media used for transcription: The technology used for transcribing would be diverse given the different sources, all these would mean additional costs for integration with the healthcare facility systems.

· Serious issues with HIPAA compliancy: HIPAA compliancy would be difficult to monitor given the numerous entities involved in the process.

· Delays in processing for the accounts receivable cycle: Medical transcription is the first stage of the accounts receivable cycle; delay in medical transcription would mean delays in the rest of the reimbursement process.

· Time spent coordinating various sources of medical transcription increases: Report distribution and signing of finished transcripts would be delayed due to the various sources of medical transcription work.

· Manpower dealing with medical transcription providers would increase: The healthcare facility would have to appoint extra people to coordinate the varied sources of transcription to ensure a smooth workflow.

All these factors can have a serious impact on both the quality of healthcare and the bottom-line of the healthcare facility.

What is the most economical and efficient solution to cope with expanding needs of a healthcare facility?

Outsourcing medical transcription needs to TransDyne would provide a one-stop solution for all the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility no matter what their expansion plans.

How does TransDyne provide a one-stop solution to the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility?

TransDyne provides superior solutions for medical transcription needs by having:

· Right people: TransDyne has a large team of well-trained medical transcriptionists in place. TransDyne believes that training should be slanted in such a way as to provide maximum expertise in minimum time. That is why medical transcriptionists in TransDyne have been trained in one or two areas of specialty making them domain experts. This means that the team at TransDyne can cope with the varying volumes of transcription without affecting the accuracy or the turnaround time.

· Right process: TransDyne has the right processes in place that ensure not only quality and turnaround time but also HIPAA compliancy. All the transcription work is executed in-house and not through sub contractors, this ensures better control over quality and safety of information. Quality of final transcripts is ensured through a four level check involving medical transcriptionist, proofreader, unit-in-charge and the quality assurance team.

· Right technology: TransDyne uses the latest technology to ensure:

1. Easy upload, by allowing the healthcare professionals to retain familiar and flexible modes of dictation
2. Safety during transmission through the use of encryption, firewalls and password protected access.
3. Easy download of file to enable distribution of finished transcripts.
4. A system which ensures ease of tracking dictations, finished transcripts and archiving facilities that can be customized to the healthcare facility’s needs

By having the right people, right processes and right technology in place TransDyne offers.

Medical transcription: What are the methods of quality assessment?

Quality is an important criterion in any decision making process. Assessing quality becomes even more important when it comes to availing service as critical as medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process of converting audio records of a patient- healthcare professional encounter into a text format.

This accuracy/quality of medical transcription critical as this forms the basis of:

· Permanent patient history
· Present and future treatment plan and basis for monitoring progress of the patient
· Referrals/tests/procedure
· Statutory requirements
· Evidence in case of disputes/litigation
· Accounts receivable processing

It is important that records that play such an essential role be of the highest accuracy/quality possible. While making the decision to outsource medical transcription needs it is vital to ensure that the medical transcription service provider has HPI guidelines in place for assessment of quality.

What are HPI guidelines?

The concept of Quality Assessment (QA) began in 1990 when a format was developed by Judy Hinickle to assess quality of transcription. This was followed by presentations made to thousands of transcription supervisors and educators around the country by Health Professional Institute (HPI), American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT), American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA).

Health Professions Institute then adapted and promoted this for its standard-setting SUM program for medical transcription. This QA method is the basis of most programs and is of most thorough and effective nature, embracing true Continuous Quality Improvement concepts.

TransDyne executes medical transcription using quality guidelines by HPI

What do HPI guidelines consist of?

HPI guidelines consist of quality check parameters and computing system for quality satisfaction and highest accuracy levels. HPI guidelines are categorized as follows:

Error 1. Medical Word misuse-Point 1.00
This is considered one of the most serious errors as it can affect every aspect of treatment administered to the patient. Even billing information is affected by this error. Guesswork or making up of words when dictation is not understood is also included in this error category.

Error 2. Omission- Point 1.00
This is also considered an equally serious type of error as it reflects on the ability and professionalism of the medical transcriptionist.

Error 3. Medical word misspelling- Point 0.75
This is the incorrect spelling of medical terminology.

Error 4. English word misspelling or Misuse -Point 0.75
This includes misspelling of English words nouns, verbs, qualifying adverbs etc, which could have a serious consequence.

Error 5. Inappropriate blanks- Point 0.75
These refer to blanks that are left unfilled, and those, which could be filled up by extensive research by the medical transcriptionist.

Error 6. Grammar errors- Point 0.5
Grammar errors include incorrect use of medical abbreviations, misuse of words, misuse of parts of speech, misuse of subject-verb, singular/plural misuse, etc.

Error 7. Punctuation errors- Point 0.5
Include errors with regard to punctuation like coma, colon, semi colon etc that change the meaning of the sentence if misused.

Error 8. Typographical errors- Point 0.25
Minor grammar, punctuation or capitalization errors.

Error 9. Formatting errors- Point 0.25
This error refers to the prevailing departmental/physician guidelines for placement of certain information within the document. E.g. Headers, Footers, templates as defined by the client.

Having these quality guidelines in place ensures that everybody in the TransDyne team is guided by the same principles. TransDyne offers Quality Transcription with accuracy of 99% or above. TransDyne ensures quality by adopting a four level quality check of Medical Transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit in charge and finally by the quality assurance team which tries to minimize errors before returning the finished reports.