Medical transcription outsourcing: Creation of patient records

Patient records are an essential part of the smooth running of a healthcare facility. They contribute to the actual process of healthcare as well as aid in the reimbursement process. Medical transcription is the process of creating medical records, by converting the audio records as dictated by the healthcare professional into text format. Medical transcription is a specialized service that requires the right team, the right process and the right technology.

Outsourcing medical transcription aids the healthcare facilities to concentrate on providing quality healthcare, by creating medical records in an accurate, speedy, secure and cost effective manner. Not only this outsourcing medical transcription also helps healthcare facilities to curb indirect expenses that they may incur by medical transcription in-house.

What are patient medical records and why are they important?

Patient medical records are the systematic documentation of patient’s individual medical history and care. Patient records consist of the following details:

• Name, date of birth, address, emergency contact numbers, sex, blood type etc.
• Date of last physical exam
• Dates and results of tests and screening
• Major illnesses & surgeries with dates
• List of medication, dosages and duration of prescription
• Allergies
• Chronic diseases
• History of illness in the family 

Patient medical records provide medical history. It is a longitudinal record chronicling disease, major & minor illnesses as well as growth landmarks. It gives the healthcare professionals a feel for what happened in the past to the patient. It also provides clues about current illness. Medical records can prove to be invaluable as an aid in arriving at the right diagnosis.

The information in medical records aid in the following:

• Continuity of care
• Basis for planning present and future care
• Assist in protecting legal interests
• Are the base for billing and coding
• For education and research purposes
• Fulfilling statutory obligations 

It can be concluded that patient medical records are invaluable in the process of healthcare. And as medical transcription is the process of creating patient records, it is vital that healthcare facilities should evaluate the service provider carefully before outsourcing medical transcription.

The criteria for evaluating a medical transcription service provider are as follows:

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

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

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

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

• Technology: The technology used by the medical transcription service provider should not only be secure but should also be easy to use, without having to require extensive training. 

Outsourcing medical transcription to the right medical transcription company can help the healthcare facility not only in terms of efficient, effective and economical creation of patient records; it also has other benefits like:

1.     Retaining familiar modes of dictation

2.     Integration with EMR/HER

3.     Specialty transcription

4.     Automated upload of dictation and download of transcripts

5.     Archiving facility

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing and health information management

Modern day healthcare depends on the input from various sources to be effective and profitable. One such aspect that plays a vital role in healthcare is health information management. Health information management is the practice of maintenance and care of health records. Health information professional have been described to play a critical role in the delivery of healthcare. They focus on collection, maintenance and the use of quality healthcare data to support the information intensive and information reliant healthcare system.

One important aspect of health information management is medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process of documenting the patient-healthcare professional encounter. Medical transcription is a specialized process requiring the optimum combination of people skills, processes and technology Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that patient records are created in a professional manner making the process efficient, effective and economical. Patient records need to fit a certain criteria to be useful in the healthcare process.  The medical transcription company needs to be evaluated based on the criteria used to evaluate data characteristics: 

·       Accuracy: Medical records of patients are vital to the process of healthcare. They provide continuity, basis for planning future care, assist in case of litigation and can be used for education and research. Therefore the accuracy of the data captured during the process of medical transcription should be as close to 100% as possible

·       Accessibility: To provide quality healthcare it is important that information is easily accessible. It not only helps healthcare professionals and support staff provide quality care but also organize their time better. Outsourcing medical transcription can help in this aspect by providing archiving facilities, which make it easier to trace files. 

·       Comprehensive: Patient records need to encompass all the details of the patient’s medical history. This aids healthcare professionals in making the right treatment plan. The medical transcription service provider needs to ensure that all the details are comprehensively captured during the transcription process

·       Consistency: Healthcare is a complex field and it is important that the value of the data should be reliable and standard across various applications. This is the responsibility of the medical transcriptionists who actually transcribe the records. It is important that their training program encompasses all the details of the specialty they are transcribing for 

·       Currency: The patient records should reflect current data. Creating timely records is an important duty of the medical transcription service provider

·       Definition: This means that the data should be clearly defined with no room for misunderstanding. This requires the medical transcription service provider team to have in-depth knowledge of medical terms and definitions. 

·       Granularity: This means the attributes and value of data should be defined at the correct level of detail

·       Precision: The details in the medical record, documenting the essentials so that no details are missed but unnecessary data is not included

·       Relevancy: The data captured in the medical records should be relevant.

·       Timeliness: The medical records need to be created with all the above given attributes within a reasonable time frame. The optimum turnaround time would aid both quality healthcare and quicker reimbursements.

Outsourcing to a professional medical transcription service provider like TransDyne ensures that medical records are created with all the attributes. 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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing expert services

The focus of healthcare facilities is to provide quality healthcare while still maintaining profitability. Healthcare is a process, which requires many expert inputs whether it is the contribution of skilled healthcare professionals, technicians, nursing staff, support staff, laboratory services or information from patient records. It becomes imperative for healthcare facilities to focus on their core competence and outsource the other activities to expert service providers.

The process of medical transcription, which aids in creating patient records, is one such activity. The best solution to ensure accurate, timely, secure and cost effective creation of patient records is to outsource to an expert medical transcription service provider.

Expert Medical transcription services

What is meant by expert medical transcription services?

The word "expert" has been defined as having, involving or demonstrating great skill, dexterity or knowledge as the result of training and experience.

By this definition outsourced medical transcription services can be described as expert services. Medical transcription is the culmination of right team, the right process and the right technology.

The right team: The accuracy and the turnaround time required for expert medical transcription is the result of the right team. To meet the quality standards required in medical transcription, the medical transcriptionists need knowledge of medical terminology, good English, typing skills, good listening skills, Internet savvy and multi tasking abilities. This requires an extensive training program to make the medical transcriptionists experts. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that expert medical transcriptionists undertake creation of patient records, no matter what the specialty or the volume of transcription.

The right process: Medical transcription is not a one-time service; it is a continuous process. The process of medical transcription continues as long as there are patients requiring healthcare. Medical transcription needs to follow the right process to ensure that the patient records are created within the acceptable time without compromising the quality or security. To cope with the varying demands medical transcription service providers have a process in place that ensures that patient records are created not only on time, but all the details of the patient-healthcare professional encounter are captured accurately.

The right technology: Technology has a significant role to play in the process of medical transcription. It not only ensure speed and security but also adds value to the process by making it easy of healthcare professionals and other support to use, but also by providing benefits like archives, familiar modes of dictation, remote printing & faxing, adoption of EMR etc.

By using the right combination of people, processes and technology outsourced medical transcription services definitely qualifies as an expert service. Speedy, secure, low-cost, accurate and technologically savvy medical transcription is the result of skill, training and experience.

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 expert outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Get the best deal!

Outsourcing medical transcription has several advantages when done right. It is an important decision that is bound to have a long-term impact on the working of healthcare facilities. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient records from the audio files of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. It is not a one-time service, but a continuous process that supports both operational and commercial aspects of healthcare.

Considering the role of medical transcription in the smooth running of healthcare facilities it is vital for healthcare facilities to choose the right medical transcription service provider to partner them in their documentation needs. The process of choosing the right medical transcription service provider would involve two stages:

Analyzing the current scenario:

• Current source of medical transcription:  This could consist of in-house medical transcriptionists or independent contractors or a combination of both

• Current turnaround time: Turnaround time could vary depending on the source of transcription as well as the patient inflow at any given time

• No of medical transcriptionists employed: This would depend on the expected medical transcription requirements

• Overheads for medical transcription: The overheads required for in-house medical transcription would comprise of: 

a)    Real estate

b)    Computers, furniture and equipments

c)     Utilities, like electricity, Internet charges etc.

d)    Consumables

e)    Taxes and benefits for employees

f)      Management, human resource, Information technology and other assorted staff

g)    Working capital

• Cost per line of transcription: The cost per line of transcription needs to be calculated including the apportionment of the above listed overheads used for medical transcription

• System for handling overflow/holiday/weekend transcription requirements: Considering that the volume of medical transcription required cannot be predicted due to the varied inflow of patients, the idle capacity during slack times and the overtime paid during busy times needs to be calculated. 

Once healthcare facilities have taken a look at the current scenario regarding medical transcription, the next step would be,

 Listing out the expectations from the outsourcing decision:

• Minimum or no investment: Outsourcing medical transcription should require very little investment so that healthcare facilities can optimize their limited resources to develop their core business

• Saving on cost of medical transcription: One of the main expectations from the outsourcing decision is the enormous savings on cost that healthcare facilities hope to make, in terms of both direct and indirect cost of medical transcription

• Minimum resources required: Outsourcing medical transcription should ensure minimum requirement of resources like management staff, administrative staff, support staff etc.

• Good quality accurate medical transcription: The accuracy of the information captured in the patient records needs to be as close to 100% as possible to enable healthcare professionals to provide quality healthcare

• Fast and efficient turnaround time: Healthcare professionals depend on information from patient records to make healthcare plans and the information from patient records is also vital for billing and coding, therefore the turnaround time commitments provided by the medical transcription service provider should suit the specific needs of healthcare facilities

• Secure Medical Transcription: Security of confidential patient information is one of the major concerns that arise during the outsourcing process. It is vital for the service provider to have adequate measures with regards to people, processes and technology

• Minimum training: Healthcare professionals and support staff are starved of time, the systems used by the medical transcription service provider should take this into consideration, so that the systems used for medical transcription should be configured so as to require minimal training

• Allowing flexible modes of dictation: One of the desired outcomes of the medical transcription outsourcing process is that of healthcare professionals being allowed to retain familiar modes of dictation allowing them optimum use of their limited time. 

• Reports in specified formats/templates: Different specialties/healthcare professionals require patient records to be created in specified templates/formats, it is important to source a medical transcription service provider that can create patient records as per specification. 

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry provides customized solutions to the medical transcription needs 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 medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Creating Synergies

The healthcare process is not only complex it is also an incredibly intricate and delicate process. Being an essential service healthcare has to deliver quality services every time! Healthcare depends on inputs from various quarters to be able to delivery quality healthcare every time. Therefore it becomes important for healthcare facilities to decide the focus areas and outsource the rest. This helps them not only focus on their core business better, but also cuts down costs and accelerates cash flow. 

Medical transcription is one such activity that is an important contributor to the healthcare process, but not part of the core competencies of the healthcare facility. Outsourcing medical transcription creates synergies that result in improved healthcare services and lessening the burden of healthcare facilities in many vital areas.

What are the synergies created by outsourcing medical transcription?

The word synergy has been defined as the value of outcome that is much greater than the actual sum value of the inputs. Outsourcing medical transcription can be quoted as a good example of synergy. By outsourcing medical transcription, not only does the healthcare facility benefit from accurate, speedy, cost effective and secure creation of patient records, outsourcing also provides other benefits like: 

• Availability of a pool of skilled medical transcriptionists: The quality of patient records is dependent on the availability of skilled medical transcriptionists.  To create a team of skilled medical transcriptionists would involve a lengthy process of selecting the right talent and training them.  By outsourcing healthcare facilities effectively have open access to skilled medical transcriptionists as required without having to go through the process of recruiting and training. This creates a synergy of bigger pool of talent for healthcare facilities to draw on as needed without actually having them on the rolls thus eliminating a lot of hassles.

• Elimination of Information Technology for medical transcription: The next ingredient that contributes to quality of medical transcription in terms of speed and security is technology. Technology has a huge role to play in the medical transcription process. Outsourcing medical transcription enables healthcare facilities full use of the software and technology developed by the medical transcription service provider for transcription without having to make huge investments. Healthcare facilities can enjoy the benefits of technology without the huge investments involved in developing and maintaining it.

• Leveraged environment: Medical transcription in-house would involve investments in Information Technology, capital equipment and working capital. By outsourcing medical transcription healthcare facilities can leverage on the investments made by the medical transcription service provider in these areas and focus these resources on the core business. 

• Pay per line: One of the major advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is that healthcare facilities can limit the cost of transcription to just the cost per line as charged by the medical transcription service provider. Essentially this means that they do not have to worry about factors like productivity, downtime, overtime, and extra charges for weekend/holiday/overflow transcription.

• Cost control and improved cash flow: Not only does outsourcing medical transcription restrict cost to cost per line of transcription, it also cuts down the cost per line substantially by as much as 40% to 60%. The other benefit of outsourcing medical transcription is that the due to the speedy creation of patient records the process of reimbursement can also be quickened, improving cash flow.

• Security of patient records:  Securing confidential patient records are one of the main concerns of healthcare facilities. This data is especially vulnerable during the medical transcription process. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures to the right service provider ensures that the patient records are protected by adequate measures in terms of people, processes and technology. 

It can be concluded that outsourcing medical transcription has a synergistic effect by allowing healthcare facilities to leverage on the skills and resources of the medical transcription service provider. To reap the maximum benefit out of the outsourcing exercise it is important to source the right service provider.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry provides customized solutions to the medical transcription needs 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 medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription services: Providing content and context

Healthcare is a complex process, which requires a lot of judgment and skills on the part of the healthcare professional, apart from all the other inputs like the right mix of equipment, education and infrastructure. One other important input to the healthcare process is information from patient records.

Patient records make it possible for healthcare professionals to make the right decisions regarding the patient's treatment. Patient records are basically a culmination of all the information of the patient's health history. They provide valuable information regarding demographics; lifestyle habits, allergies and also include earlier symptoms, diagnoses and treatment availed.  This information is not only valuable in providing further treatment, but is also invaluable when treatment is stretched over a period of time and there are frequent changes in the healthcare professionals and support staff attending to the patient.

Medical transcription is the process by which patient records are created. Medical transcription basically involves the conversion of audio files of the healthcare professionals regarding the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format.  This is a very simplistic definition of medical transcription.

Medical transcription is a service that extends beyond being just a typing service; medical transcription is a service, which provides healthcare professionals with content and context in the patient's medical records enabling the process of healthcare.

Medical transcription is a skill that requires:

• Good language skills
• Good listening skills
• Knowledge of medical terminology
• Typing skills
• Ability to multitask
• An eye for details
• Research abilities 

To effectively provide content, the medical transcriptionist has to be able to listen carefully and capture the information as accurately as possible. Where needed the medical transcriptionist has to refer to the Internet to fill in the appropriate words.

To effectively apply context while transcribing patient records, the medical transcriptionist has to listen carefully to the words of the healthcare professional and make sure that the record is consistent in terms of details. For example: The gender of the patient or the left/right side injury etc.

One of most economical, effective and efficient options available to healthcare facilities for creation of patient records is to outsource to a professional medical transcription company.

However while outsourcing medical transcription, it is important to assess the medical transcription service provider on the basis of the following:

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

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

• Data security: The service provider should be HIPAA/HITECH compliant. The medical transcription service provider has to have adequate security measures to ensure that the confidential data transmitted back and forth is safe and secure.

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

• Technology: The technology used by the service provider should not only be secure and offer advanced features but should also be easy to use, without having to require extensive training. 

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing and Healthcare: A symbiotic relationship

The process of healthcare is complex and ever changing. The process of healthcare is complex because it depends on a lot of quality inputs to be successful. The process of healthcare is ever changing because it is a service that is constantly being updated due to the discovery of new ailments, inventions of new cure, treatments, therapies etc.

To be successful in providing quality healthcare profitably it is important for healthcare facilities to not only constantly update themselves regarding the latest developments, but also to try and avail the best inputs with the minimum costs. The process of healthcare is dependent on a lot of inputs, information from patient records being one of them. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient records converting the audio dictation of healthcare professionals into text format.

However medical transcription is not one of the core activities of healthcare facilities, outsourcing medical transcription has proven to create a symbiotic relationship between healthcare facilities and the service provider.

How does outsourcing medical transcription create a symbiotic relationship between the medical transcription company and healthcare facilities?

A symbiotic business relationship has been described as a close and long term relationship between two business entities leading to a mutually beneficial relationship.

It is important to assess how outsourcing medical transcription achieves a symbiotic relationship between healthcare facilities and the service provider.

• Providing the right skills: The quality of medical transcription services is totally dependent on the skills of the medical transcriptionists team working on it. And the skills of the medical transcriptionists depend on the right recruitment and training program. 

However recruiting the right talent and training medical transcriptionists to become domain experts is a time consuming process. By outsourcing medical transcription, healthcare facilities benefit from the skill of the service provider in sourcing and training the right talent.

The medical transcription service provider benefits from this by being able to provide quality services to healthcare facilities within the requisite turnaround time.

• Providing the right technology: Technology plays a huge role in the medical transcription process. However developing technology for medical transcription requires a large investment in terms of both capital as well as time. 

Outsourcing medical transcription benefits healthcare facilities by allowing them to tap into the technology developed by the service provider. The service provider also benefits from this by being able to use the technology not only to ensure ease of use, but also to meet turnaround time requirements and security norms.

• Providing the right price: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the cost of medical transcription is restricted to the cost per line. This is made possible by the economies of scale that the medical transcription service provider is able to achieve by using the right team, the right process, the right technology and the right billing methodology. 

Outsourcing medical transcription is mutually beneficial to healthcare facilities and the medical transcription service provider by using a definable, measurable, verifiable, consistent and fair & honest. Healthcare facilities and the service provider both benefit from the economies of scale achieved by the service provider.

• Providing HIPAA/HITECH compliant services: Protecting confidential patient information is one of the main concerns of healthcare facilities. Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider ensures that this data will be secure during the process of medical transcription by securing people, processes and technology, thus protecting healthcare facilities as well the service provider. 

Outsourcing medical transcription can create a   symbiotic relationship between healthcare facilities and the medical transcription service provider by ensuring mutual profitability, mutual growth & development, lessening concerns of security and use of the right technology for the benefit of both.

While outsourcing medical transcription it is important for healthcare facilities to source the right medical transcription service provider to ensure a long-term mutually beneficial relationship.

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.

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, 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 innovative medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.