Medical transcription outsourcing: Producing documentation support based on AHDI guidelines

The importance of documenting the patient encounter is manifold as it helps in many aspects that contribute to the smooth running of healthcare facilities, besides being a statutory necessity. As healthcare services are critical it is important that the process of documenting the patient- healthcare professional encounter be subject to certain norms. The patient – healthcare professional encounter can be documented by various means, one of the most preferred being medical transcription; a process which converts dictation to text.

As medical transcription has an important supporting role to play in the process of healthcare, a best practices guide titled “Healthcare Documentation Quality Assessment and Management Best Practices” has been jointly created by AHDI, MTIA and AHIMA. One of the highlights of this manual is alignment with the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.

Each stage of the process is vital to ensure that the process of healthcare is documented keeping in mind that maintaining the highest standards of quality is a continuous process. The goal of this quality assessment program is to ensure that healthcare documentation is clear, consistent, accurate, complete and timely.

Plan: Planning policy guidelines for quality

This part of best practices for maintaining quality involves a set of standards for documentation that ensures accuracy, accessibility and overall value of the patient medical record as a resource for understanding the care process including diagnosis, treatment and progress.

To ensure this, the planning process should have principles that ensure:

• Verifiability: Any quality program should have standards and measures that are easily verifiable and these measures should be available to personnel at every level of the organization and to the end user of the transcript to ensure cross verification
• Definability: The error categories should be clearly define
• Measurability: Measurable values for clearly defined error categories should be assigned and measurement methodology for errors should be clear to all the parties involved
• Consistency: The quality program should define error categories, values to be assigned to each category and there should be a standard method error determination
• Integrity: The integrity of document can only be assured when there is a synchronized partnership between the originator of dictation and the medical transcriptionist. The healthcare professional dictating the notes should present information in a clear and concise manner and the medical transcriptionist should transcribe the document preserving the essence of the information provided by the healthcare professional

To this end the quality assurance program should be based on Quality Guidelines that ensure the following:

• Accurate and complete documentation ensuring that the essence of the encounter is captured
• A process of distribution of reports on a timely basis and a system for easy accessibility of past records to the relevant personnel
• A practice of periodical quality audits to study the process and assess where errors occur as a part of the ongoing quality process
• This process to be applied to medical transcription at all levels
• The assessment program should be consistent and unbiased
• The assessment program should be according to the principles of assessment agreed upon
• The results from the assessment process to be used as a learning tool to ensure recurrence of errors
• Access to the Quality Guidelines, assessment process to be made available to all the people involved in the transcription process.

To be successful a quality assurance program should be:

Proactive: Medical transcription being such a critical activity that contributes to the healthcare process, it is important for quality assurance program for medical transcription to be proactive. Being proactive ensures that solutions are available for problems before they turn into major issues

Realistic, scalable and financially feasible: Quality in medical transcription is a continuous process; therefore it is important that the quality assurance program should be realistic and cost effective

Simple and easy to implement: Medical transcription is a process that consistently needs to meet the quality constraints of accuracy and timeliness, keeping this in mind any quality assurance process has to be simple to be workable.

Secure and Confidential: Considering that medical transcription involves working with confidential patient information and comes under the purview of HIPAA it is important that any feedback regarding quality keeps in mind the confidentiality norms

Inclusive of all aspects: Quality in the medical transcription process involves all aspects starting from the origin of the data down to the medical transcriptionist, proofreader and quality team, the quality assurance program needs to plan measures to include all these aspects

Reportable for trending and tracking purposes: The process of quality assurance is not only to ensure consistent quality documentation but is also a valuable input for education purposes

Timely: The quality assurance process should be scheduled in timely manner to ensure maximum results

TransDyne, a leader in the medical transcription industry has made quality a key word in their work processes. This attitude of adopting quality as the basis of their services and their aptitude in information technology has helped them come up with easy to use medical transcription solutions that help save on time, money and efforts.

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.

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping solve healthcare documentation challenges

It is a known fact that the healthcare documentation process is guided not only by the needs of healthcare professionals and insurance providers, but also influenced by statutory norms. In the face of the changing requirements for healthcare documentation, healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities are faced with the challenge to meet the new statutory requirements without making significant changes in the way they work, as well as controlling costs.

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records converting the audio records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter into text format. Medical transcription services aid the healthcare process by ensuring accurate and prompt creation of medical records. However the main challenges faced by healthcare facilities as regards to medical transcription are:

• Limited transcription resources
• Controlling costs
• Dilution of focus on the core business

Taking these challenges and the face of the changing healthcare documentation scenario, outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be the best solution for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to face these challenges

How does outsourcing medical transcription help healthcare facilities face the challenges of the changing documentation scenario?

Simply put outsourcing medical transcription provides healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals access to unlimited resources in the form of:

• Trained medical transcriptionists: Access to a sizable pool of skilled and trained personnel helps healthcare facilities face the challenges of the changing documentation scenario by enabling the following:

1. Allowing the healthcare professionals to retain their preferred method of creating patient transcripts; dictation to transcription. This enables the healthcare professional to retain the narrative, ensure maximum accuracy while still enabling EMR adoption using HL7 interface
2. Medical transcriptionists trained to be experts in different specialties of medicine can also act as editors and proofreaders for back end speech recognition software based transcripts
3. Having detailed records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter is an essential element of risk management

• Software and tools: The process of medical transcription is made secure and speedy using the right technology. Technology provides healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities with several benefits like:

1. Providing a secure and efficient system for transcription
2. Allowing healthcare professionals to retain familiar modes of dictation
3. HL7 interface
4. Archives
5. Flexible modes of document delivery

• The experience and expertise of the medical transcription service provider: As the healthcare documentation scenario keeps evolving the experience and expertise of the medical transcription service provider in providing flexible and feasible solutions can provide much needed assistance to healthcare facilities meet documentation requirements.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has utilized their extensive background in information technology and their experience in providing medical transcription services to come up with medical transcription solutions that support the smooth running of   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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

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Medical transcription services: Proactive to the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities

Healthcare is a sector that is dependent on various sources to be able to provide quality services. Apart from the skill, qualification and experience of healthcare professionals and other staff, the healthcare process draws support from various sources like laboratories, pharmaceuticals, surgical and other healthcare equipment to be able to deliver quality healthcare. The process of healthcare as well as healthcare professionals have to document every step in the process of healthcare. This ensures that they can draw information from these records for various purposes. The information in patient medical records also provide valuable inputs to other entities who are involved in other aspects of successfully running a healthcare facility.

The inputs for the data that form a part of the patient medical record comes from various sources including:

• Critical care
• Emergency department
• Pharmacy
• Laboratory
• Radiology
• Cardiology
• Labor & delivery

The information from patient medical records is utilized by:

• The coding and billing department
• Health information management professionals
• Risk managers
• Reporting to statutory authorities
• People involved in scheduling patient visits

The smooth and profitable running of healthcare facilities depend on not only accurate and timely information but also easy access to the information.

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. As information from patient medical records is vital for smooth running of healthcare facilities and helps them in various aspects of running the healthcare facility, it is important that the medical transcription process meets all the quality criteria. As medical transcription is a specialized skill and the role of medical transcription services has evolved to fulfill a broader role in aiding the healthcare process, the prudent option for healthcare facilities is to outsource medical transcription to a professional medical transcription service provider.

Outsourcing medical transcription to a professional service provider helps the documentation process in various aspects, including creating proactive solutions based on the developing requirements of the healthcare facility, healthcare professionals and fulfilling statutory requirements

How does outsourced medical transcription services provide proactive solutions?

• Providing software and tools for medical transcription: The process of medical transcription requires a foolproof system to ensure collection & transmission of dictation files and a process by which the finished transcripts are made available to the healthcare professional through document delivery modes of their choice. The software and tools provided by the medical transcription service provider needs to not only ensure speed and convenience but also ensure security throughout the medical transcription process
• Archives: The information from patient medical records provide useful inputs for various purposes to different departments in the healthcare facility. It is important that the healthcare professionals and the support staff at the healthcare facility have easy access to older transcripts. Outsourced medical transcription service providers provide archiving systems that enable easy access.
• Retaining the tried and tested way of information assimilation: With the prospect of adopting EMR/ EHR systems looming in the horizon, outsourced medical transcription service providers can provide major support to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to retain tried and tested methods of information assimilation by facilitating EMR adoption through HL7 interface.
• Speech recognition transcription: Speech recognition software has been adopted by many healthcare professionals. Though this software meets the turnaround time requirements, it requires extensive editing and proofreading to meet acceptable accuracy standards. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have stepped into the breach and are providing editing and proofreading services for these transcripts.

Outsourced medical transcription service providers have always anticipated the needs of healthcare documentation by studying the way the healthcare system works. They have used the right software and tools to provide services that meet the quality criteria of accuracy, turnaround time and security, while reducing prices and retaining convenience and familiar working modes.

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 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.

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing versatile solutions

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

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

What is meant by versatile medical transcription solutions?

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

Providing versatile medical transcription solutions would encompass:

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

1. Accuracy: Accuracy of the data captured in the transcripts is vital to the process of healthcare as well as the commercial aspects. Medical transcription service providers meet high accuracy levels by using the right team and the right quality process to ensure that the integrity of the data captured is not compromised. They ensure that they have teams of specialty trained medical transcriptionists who can cope with varying volumes of any specialty without compromising on the quality. They also use a stringent quality policy to ensure that high standards of quality are met with.
2. Turnaround time: Healthcare professionals require information that is not only accurate but also available on time. Medical transcription service providers ensure turnaround time commitments are met with by using the right team and the right technology.
3. Security: Maintaining security of confidential patient information is both a legal and moral responsibility. Medical transcription service providers ensure HIPAA/HITECH compliance, by educating the team, using the right processes and using secure technology.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To avail versatile medical transcription solutions from TransDyne, click here

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Medical transcription: Reasons for outsourcing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Medical transcription outsourcing: How to get the most out of it?

Outsourcing medical transcription is a crucial business decision for healthcare facilities, one that would have required considerable thought and analysis. Having gone through the process of identifying the deliverables expected from the outsourcing process it is important to get the maximum benefits from the outsourcing medical transcription decision.

How can healthcare facilities maximize benefits of the outsourcing medical transcription decision?

Choosing the right medical transcription service provider: Sourcing the right service provider has become much easier because information about medical transcription service providers are easily available on the Internet. But on the flip side availability of huge amount of information can be very confusing. To choose the right service provider, healthcare facilities need to concentrate on certain points, which can help narrow down the search for the right service provider. Healthcare facilities need to ask the following questions:

• What are the credentials of the service provider? How long have they been in business?
• Who are their clients? Can they provide references?
• Does the service provider use sub-contractors?
• Does the service provider offer a free trial?
• Does the service provider have open channels of communication?

Getting the right price: Savings on cost of medical transcription is probably one of the main objectives of outsourcing. However pricing in medical transcription is a very complicated matter. It is important for healthcare facilities not to be guided by price alone. Unrealistically low prices could mean that either quality of work could be compromised or the method of billing used could leave room for manipulation. The method of billing used by the medical transcription service provider should be measurable, verifiable, definable, consistent and fair & honest. Care should be taken to understand the components of cost and the method of billing to ensure that the price quoted really benefits the healthcare facility

Setting standards of quality: Patient records are vital for the running of healthcare facilities, therefore it is important to thoroughly study the medical transcription service provider to assess their ability to meet accuracy levels and turnaround time guarantees. The training methods used, the quality check methodology used and the technology used by the service provider are indicators of the medical transcription service provider's ability to meet quality standards of maximum accuracy and speedy turnaround times

Ensuring HIPAA/HITECH compliance: HIPAA/HITECH compliance is very important when it comes to medical transcription. The ability of the medical transcription service provider to meet HIPAA/HITECH standards can be assessed by the measures used by the service provider to secure people, processes, infrastructure and technology

Leveraging on the software and tools used by the service provider: Technology plays a significant role in the medical transcription process. The outsourcing process can become very advantageous by leveraging on the technology used by the medical transcription service provider. It can provide value added benefits like flexible modes of dictation; automatic uploads & downloads, archives, remote printing & faxing, and integration with EMR. This eases the life of healthcare professionals and support staff enabling them to concentrate on providing quality healthcare

Outsourcing to the right medical transcription service provider could help healthcare facilities concentrate on their core business, save on costs, accelerate reimbursements and benefit from the technology used by the medical transcription service provider.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry:

• Has been providing outsourced medical transcription services to some of leaders in the healthcare industry for over a decade
• Has testimonials of their satisfied customers
• TransDyne believes it is their privilege to serve their customers themselves rather than dilute the focus by using subcontractors
• TransDyne offers a free trial of their services for a limited time period
• TransDyne believes in being available to their customers 24/7

Apart  from the above mentioned benefits, TransDyne also offers quality medical transcription at reasonable prices, done by expert medical transcriptionists with a very quick turnaround time executed through secure HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels, with very high levels of accuracy and all this with technology that is advanced but easy to use!

To avail  outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Helps Reduce payroll cost

Outsourcing could bring down the direct labor costs. When outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facility is essentially adding to the workforce of their facility without actually having the people on their rolls.

The healthcare facility not only saves on time, money and effort towards recruitment, training, office space, utilities, salary and other benefits. But also get all the benefits of drawing from a large pool of medical transcriptionists, who have been recruited, trained and made readily available to them any time they want them.

By outsourcing the healthcare facility can also rest easy about work scheduling, allocation, supervision and follow-up. There will neither be loss of productivity due to lower patient inflow nor backlogs due to higher patient inflow. Their weekend and holiday transcription needs will also be taken care of.

While these are the benefits that are gained from outsourcing, it is important that time is taken to source the right company to be their partner for transcription needs. The medical transcription service provider needs to be assessed to ensure that the following benefits are availed of:

Right workforce: The quality of medical transcription entirely depends on the quality of people doing the work. Assess the outsourcing company to see if they have the right kind of people working for them. This can be assessed by evaluating their training techniques. Choose a company that believes in executing the work through in-house transcriptionists and training them to be domain experts in specialties of medicine.

Right technology: Uploading dictation, accessing finished transcripts, archival of records, checking on the status of the files uploaded etc., requires that the technology base of the medical transcription service provider chosen, is advanced, flexible and easy to use.

Accuracy/ Quality of work: Accuracy of finished transcripts is of utmost importance while choosing the medical transcription service provider. A company that offers assurance of at least 99% accuracy should be acceptable.

Right turnaround time: The turnaround time of finished transcripts are of utmost importance for providing quality care, billing and other purposes Ensuring a commitment on the turnaround time for transcripts and flexibility for stat reports should be ascertained before finalizing.

Security of data: Maintaining confidentiality of patient data is crucial while transmitting records back and forth through electronic media. While outsourcing the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility it is vital to make sure that the medical transcription service provider is HIPAA and HITECH compliant.

Optimum pricing: The major benefit of outsourcing is that of improving the bottom line of the healthcare facility. Ensuring that the medical transcription service provider offers a fair price and uses a billing method that is definable, verifiable, measurable, consistent, fair and honest will ensure a long-term relationship.

Once the medical transcription service provider has been evaluated on all these factors, cost benefits that come from having quality medical transcription and from having reduced direct labor costs can be enjoyed long term

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

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

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Innovative and informative services

Medical transcription has evolved from the initial stages from just being a scribe service that records the patient-healthcare professional encounter into a service that provides information on the timely basis to not only healthcare professionals and the support staff, but also the billing department. Medical transcription has evolved into its current state through constant innovation. Innovation in medical transcription has been in the form of process, technology and even the method of delivering the services.

Medical transcription: Innovations

1. Remote services: Due to the advent of the digital era, it is no longer imperative that the medical transcriptionist should be in the same room as the healthcare professional. In fact medical transcription service providers could be in remote location and still serve the needs of the healthcare professionals effectively. And due to innovative technology used by the service provider, the security of confidential patient information and turnaround time is also ensured.
2. Flexible modes of information collection: The innovations in technology has not only made it possible for service providers in remote areas to serve healthcare professionals, but also made it possible for healthcare professionals to dictate using flexible and familiar modes of dictation. This enables healthcare professionals to make the best use of the limited time available to them
3. Specialty training: One of the main concerns of healthcare facilities is that the accuracy of the information captured in the patient records may be compromised due to lack of skilled medical transcriptionists. One of the innovations that have helped in this area is training medical transcriptionists in one or two specialties. This ensures that well-trained and skilled medical transcriptionists are available to provide accurate and timely skills when new specialties are added to the healthcare facilities.
4. Added benefits like remote printing and faxing: Innovations in technology used for medical transcription have always been slanted to provide maximum benefits to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities. One such feature is remote printing/faxing of finished transcripts. This means that in a situation where information is required urgently, the healthcare professional can receive documents at locations specified by them at the touch of a button.
5. Archives: Healthcare professionals and support staff spend a lot of time on searching and tracking of transcripts in various stages of transcription. One of the innovations in this area provided by outsourcing medical transcription is that of archive systems that make it very easy to search and retrieve information as needed.
6. Automated process for delivery of transcripts: One of the main innovations that have come out of outsourced medical transcription services is that of automating the whole medical transcription process. This has enabled the automatic, speedy and secure delivery of finished transcripts

Outsourced medical transcription has gone beyond just being a service of creating patient documents to a service that anticipates the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities and is constantly updating and innovating its processes to provide value-added services. Medical transcription is also vital to the process of healthcare by providing information regarding the patient’s medical history to healthcare professionals enabling them to make informed decisions. Medical transcription also provides the base information for coding and billing leading to quicker receivables cycle, helping in commercial areas of healthcare.

Outsourced medical transcription provides accurate, faster, safer, informative and cost effective services through constant innovation.

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

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

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Know the service provider

Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. Medical transcription aids healthcare professionals by providing access to relevant information about the patient’s health history. Having detailed patient records aids the healthcare professionals provide quality healthcare without having to rely on repetitive inputs from patients, handwritten notes or relying on their memory. Patient records help healthcare facilities in starting the coding and billing process leading to claims. It can be said that medical transcription is vital for both patient care as well as to ensure efficient fund flow management.

Outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be an effective solution for the documentation needs of healthcare facilities. Outsourcing medical transcription enables creation of patient records in a timely, accurate, secure and cost effective manner. By outsourcing medical transcription, the healthcare facility is essential gaining a long-term partner.

Considering that medical transcription is an important link in the chain leading to quality healthcare, it is very important to choose the right service provider. Given below are some of the details that play an important part in choosing the right medical transcription service provider:

Experience:

How long has the service provider been in the business of providing outsourced medical transcription service?

While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to source a service provider who has experience in the medical transcription business. Outsourcing to a fly-by-night operator can, not only be very costly but could also be dangerous.

Versatility:

Does the service provider have experience servicing healthcare facilities of all types?

While outsourcing it is important not only to ascertain how long the medical transcription service provider has been in business, but also whether the service provider has experience in serving the varied needs of healthcare facilities of all types

Check references:

Can the service provider provide testimonials?

While outsourcing it is important to check the experience of the service provider in providing similar services, by verifying the testimonials of customers who have already availed similar services.

Commitment to quality:

What are the measures used by the service provider to ensure accuracy?

Accuracy of information captured in the patient record is vital as it affects both the quality of healthcare as well as reimbursements. It is important to assess the service provider on the basis of their training methods and quality checks in place to gauge their ability to provide quality medical transcription.

Confidentiality:

What are the measures used by the service provider to protect patient data?

One of the major concerns while outsourcing medical transcription is the security of confidential patient data. It is important to ensure that the service provider is not just using standard FTP and Email for transferring data, as this does not support encryption. It is important to assess whether the service provider has inbuilt security measures to secure technology. The security measures used by the service provider to secure processes and people also needs to be assessed.

Prompt Services:

What is turnaround time guaranteed by the service provider?

Turnaround time of finished transcripts is another important factor to be assessed while outsourcing medical transcription. This can be evaluated based on the availability of the right team (well trained medical transcriptionists) and the right processes with the service provider.

Pricing and Pricing methods:

What is pricing method used by the service provider?

Lowered cost of transcription is one of the main benefits healthcare facilities hope to gain from the outsourcing process. It is important to not only get a quote from the service provider for medical transcription services, it is equally important to find out the components of pricing and the billing method used by the service provider.

Technology:

What is the technology used by the service provider?

The technology used by the service provider plays an important part in security, easy to use features and other benefits like interface with EMR, remote printing & faxing, archive facilities etc.

Sample of services:

Does the service provider offer a free trial?

A free trial of services provided by the medical transcription service provider gives the healthcare facility an opportunity to assess whether the service provider can deliver services as promised.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing outsourced medical transcription services for over a decade with the following benefits:

• Medical transcription with an accuracy of above 99% using a team of well trained specialty medical transcriptionists and having a stringent four-level quality check method
• Meets turnaround time requirements of healthcare facilities using the right people, right processes and the right technology
• Uses the character line method of billing, which is explained to the customers in advance, so that all the components of cost are understood
• Has security measures to protect confidential information that not only meet HIPAA/HITECH standards, but exceed them
• Uses technology that is not only advanced but easy to use
• Has been providing outsourced medical transcription solutions for over a decade and has the testimonials of satisfied customers
• Has multiple channels of interaction for customer service to ensure quick resolution of any issues
• Offers free trial of services for a limited period

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

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Medical transcription outsourcing: Need for Secure services

Medical transcription is the process of documenting the patient-healthcare professional encounter in detail. Patient records are an important component of healthcare. Patient records play an important role in the following:

• Record of symptoms, diagnoses and treatment
• Record of pre-existing health conditions
• Record of Allergies and current medication
• Progress of treatment
• Basis for referrals
• Statutory requirement
• Evidence in case of litigation
• Basis for coding and billing

Outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be one of the most efficient, effective and economic methods for creating patient records. Time and again emphasis has been placed on the importance of ensuring security of confidential patient information. And the outsourced medical transcription service provider has an enormous responsibility in protecting patient information, as medical transcription is the process of creating these records. The process of medical transcription also involves transmission of this information back and forth during the transcription process this adds to the need for stringent security measures.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was established to protect confidential patient information. More recently HITECH has come into force and has expanded the concerns of HIPAA and enhanced the powers of HIPAA to enforce measures and standards for protection of confidential patient information.

Why is security of confidential patient information, an important component of medical transcription?

The root of protecting patient information arises from the sacrosanct patient-healthcare professional relationship. A patient-healthcare professional relationship is central to the practice of medicine and is essential for the delivery of high-quality healthcare. The quality of patient-healthcare professional relationship is important to both parties. The better the relationship in terms of mutual respect, knowledge, trust, shared values and perspective about diseases & life, the better the amount of information, enhancing accuracy of diagnosis and quality of care.

In fact the confidentiality of the information regarding the patient as provided to the healthcare professional/healthcare facility is one of the components of the foundation for the medical code of ethics

As medical transcription is a vital link in the chain for delivering quality healthcare, it is important that the medical transcription service provider understands and acknowledges the need for confidentiality and has measures in place to ensure security. Security of patient records is not only mandatory by law, but also the moral responsibility of the service provider.

What are measures to be taken by the medical transcription service provider to protect confidential patient information?

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.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourcing medical transcription industry understands the need for maintaining confidentiality of patient information and has measures in place to ensure HIPAA / HITECH compliance.

How does TransDyne ensure HIPAA/HITECH compliance?

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/HITECH compliance gives them a professional outlook. Having them give a commitment in writing further ensure HIPAA/HITECH compliance. This protects the data in all stages.

TransDyne believes in maintaining security standards that not only meet HIPAA/HITECH standards, but also exceed them. TransDyne also provides medical transcription services with accuracy levels 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!

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

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