Outsourcing internal medicine medical transcription

Internal medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis, management and non-surgical treatment of unusual or serious diseases. In modern urban practice, most internists are subspecialists: that is, they generally limit their medical practice to problems of one organ system or to one particular area of medical knowledge

Internal Medicine medical transcription involves the transcription of audio records dictated by Internists’ and other related healthcare professionals’ encounter with patients. Knowing that it takes a specialist to take care specialist medical transcription needs, TransDyne has trained a team of medical transcriptionists in the language of Internal Medicine.  This has enabled the medical transcriptionists to become domain specialists.

How does specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription affect accuracy levels?

Specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription helps the medical transcriptionists produce quality work from the very beginning.  The medical transcriptionists are familiar with the terminology, therapies, procedures and drugs related to Internal Medicine. Due to the specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription the medical transcriptionists are able to achieve accuracy of above 99% maintaining the integrity of information captured.

How does specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription affect turnaround time?

Specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription enables the medical transcriptionists to produce high quality transcripts within the turnaround time guaranteed. Due to the familiarity with the language of Internal Medicine, the medical transcriptionist need not spend much time researching difficult terms in the Internet. Due to the higher levels of accuracy the number of quality checks required are less thus reducing turnaround time.

How does specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription affect pricing?

Specialty training in Internal Medicine medical transcription increases the productivity of the medical transcriptionists and decreases the time required for frequent quality checks thus bringing down the cost per line of transcription. The healthcare facility benefits from the economies of scale.

Internal Medicine medical transcription from TransDyne not only has the benefits of accuracy above 99%, turnaround time of 24 hours and reasonable prices, it has other benefits like:

• Security: One of the main concerns that healthcare facilities have is regarding the security of data. During the medical transcription process, data is transmitted back & forth; the protection of data during this process is vital. TransDyne ensures security of data by taking on a three pronged approach, which involves security measures with regard to technology, people and processes. This ensures the confidentiality of data is protected at all stages.

• Flexible modes of dictation: Realizing that time is a precious commodity for healthcare professionals, TransDyne has made it possible for them to retain familiar modes of dictation enabling to manage their time for maximum productivity. 

• Benefits of advanced technology: TransDyne offers healthcare facilities the benefit of advanced technological features like automatic uploads of dictation; automatic downloads of finished transcripts, remote printing & faxing, power archiving facilities and HL7 integration etc at no extra costs. 

To know more about superb Internal Medicine medical transcription services by TransDyne, click here. 

The role of medical transcription services in speech recognition transcription

Healthcare services have always been dynamic, responding to demands of the end user to come up with new healthcare solutions, new medications, therapies, procedures etc. The healthcare sector depends on inputs from various sources to keep up with the demands made on them by patients, statutory regulations and the need to keep a healthy bottom line.

One input that has always helped the healthcare sector meet the varied and sometimes contradictory demands placed on them is information from patient records. Documenting the process of care provided to the patient is important because it serves numerous purposes including:

• Providing the basis of continued care
• Foundation for making decisions regarding care like referring to specialists, changing method of treatment etc
• Provide a chronicle of events leading from inputs from the patients, diagnosis and the treatment procedure
• Keeps a record of the patients' response in case of experimental medication or therapy
• Providing the basis of coding and billing leading to reimbursements
• Helping in risk management
• Helping in communication with statutory authorities 

Medical transcription is one of the most popular and preferred method of  documenting of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. As it is a specialized skill requiring inputs in the form of the right team, the right technology and the right process to produce medical records that are accurate, timely and secure, outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be an effective solution. Outsourcing medical transcription additionally has the benefit of being cost effective as outsourcing curbs indirect costs and reduces direct costs by more than 40%.

As technology has evolved, there have been improvements in the way medical transcription works. One of the innovations in medical transcription services is the role played by medical transcription services in improving the output provided by speech recognition software. 

How does speech recognition software work?

Basically speech recognition software converts the dictation of the healthcare professional into text format. In theory this seems to be an ideal solution for the documentation needs of healthcare professionals, especially as regards to turnaround time. The limitations of transcripts produced by this software include:

• Extensive training of the software to the nuances of the dictation style of the healthcare professional
• Change in the style of dictation of the healthcare professional resulting in loss of productivity
• Accuracy levels ranging between 60% - 80%
• Extensive editing and proof reading by the healthcare professional to bring the accuracy of the transcript to acceptable levels resulting in loss of productivity. 

How do outsourced medical transcription services aid in speech recognition software transcription?

Outsourced medical transcription service providers aid in the process of speech recognition software transcription by providing editing and proof reading services for the transcripts produced by speech recognition software to bring the accuracy levels to acceptable and usable levels. This enables the healthcare professionals to concentrate on their core activity of providing care.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their background in information technology to develop software and tools for medical transcription that save on efforts and money and adhere to the principles of healthcare documentation.

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

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

Medical transcription outsourcing: Choose the service provider with care

Once it has been decided that outsourcing the medical transcription needs is the best approach to minimizing cost and to have more time to focus on the core business, the healthcare facility needs to focus on the process of choosing the medical transcription service provider. Choosing a medical transcription service provider can be like picking out a long-term partner of business associate. Getting it right the first time can be vital, as it will mean a seamless transition from day one.

With so many companies, offering medical transcription services what makes TransDyne stand out?

• 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 and 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 medical transcription service provider should not only secure but should also be easy to use, without having to require extensive training. 

All the above listed are tangible benefits/ services. What can make a medical transcription service provider stand out are the more subtle and difficult to enumerate intangibles.

Evaluating the quality of a medical transcription company on the basis of intangibles is not easy. Because these are benefits, which have a greater negative impact due to their absence, than positive impact due to their presence.

What exactly are the intangibles, which have such an impact through their absence?

• Quality guidelines
• In house transcription
• Transparent and simple billing
• Flexibility of dictation
• Benefits of having Medical Transcriptionists trained in specialization
• Document delivery system
• Free trial without any obligatory sign up
• Dictation tips
• Track record/testimonials 

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 total 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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: What are the advantages?

Running a healthcare facility successfully is a balancing act requiring that a delicate balance be maintained between providing quality care and maintaining profitability. To deliver quality healthcare it is imperative for healthcare facilities to clearly establish those tasks that are an integral part of the healthcare delivery chain and outsource the rest of the inputs. This ensures that the focus is not diluted and quality is not compromised. One such input that plays a vital role in the provision of healthcare is information from patient medical records.

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the audio recording of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. Medical transcription is a specialized skill requiring several inputs in the form of people skills, equipment and processes to be able to deliver transcripts that are accurate, timely and secure.  Having patient medical records transcribed in-house tends to not only dilute the focus of the healthcare facilities from the core business but also tends to divert resources away from the core business.

One easy fix to ensure patient medical records are created without compromising quality standards and dilution of focus is to outsource the entire process to a professional medical transcription service provider. Outsourcing medical transcription provides healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals with numerous advantages.

What are the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription?

Outsourcing medical transcription to a professionally managed medical transcription company basically provides the healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals with numerous advantages, like:

• Reduced costs: One of the main advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is that of the substantial savings on cost. Outsourcing enables healthcare facilities transcription eliminates fixed cost of medical transcription to a large extent and enables them to convert these costs to variable cost, totally depending on the volume of transcription required.

• Faster turnaround time: Another advantage of outsourcing is that of ensuring that the transcripts are made available on time. Outsourced medical transcription service providers use a combination of the right team and the right technology to ensure that the dictation files provided by the healthcare professionals are transcribed speedily so as to meet the turnaround time commitments

• Improved patient care and quality: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that quality standards of accuracy and turnaround time are maintained. Having accurate patient medical records available on time helps healthcare professionals in providing quality care.

• Develop more efficient billing procedures: The data in patient medical records is the basis for coding and billing. Prompt turnaround time of transcripts helps speed up the coding and billing process
  
  
• Legal usage: Patient medical records are an important part of risk management, as they chronicle the diagnosis and treatment process. Having descriptive, accurate and timely creation of records help in case of litigation

• Streamline document distribution management: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that there is proper process available for collecting dictation of healthcare professionals and a proper system for distribution of transcripts. Delivery of transcripts can be made to folders specified by the healthcare professional, features like automated printing & faxing, delivery to multiple healthcare professionals, easy to search archives help enhance the working life of healthcare professionals. 

Outsourced medical transcription services provide vital support to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities in various aspects. However while outsourcing medical transcription it is important to source a service provider that can provide services that are accurate, speedy, secure, cost effective and using technology that provides numerous benefits.

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Maintaining standards of quality

Documenting the healthcare process is an important aspect of healthcare services; as this aids in several areas including meeting statutory requirements, providing continuing care, preparing for coding & billing and as evidence in case of malpractice litigation. Though healthcare facilities have several options available to them for creation of medical records like point and click entry into an EMR/EHR, speech recognition, using the services of an in-house transcription team etc, one of the most preferred and cost effective method is to outsource the entire process to a professional medical transcription service provider.

Outsourcing medical transcription to a professional medical transcription service provider provides support to the healthcare facility and healthcare professionals in several aspects. Not only do outsourced medical transcription service providers provide accurate, timely, secure and cost effective services they also provide numerous benefits by virtue of the software and tools used by them for medical transcription.

Outsourced medical transcription service providers create patient medical records adhering to a strict code of ethics. The standards for the services provided include:

• Healthcare documentation that meet quality standards: Outsourcing medical transcription to a professional medical transcription service provider ensures that patient medical records are created with maximum accuracy. The medical transcription service provider uses specialty trained medical transcriptionists and a multiple level quality check method to ensure that the quality and integrity of the data is maintained.

• Securing data: Protecting the confidentiality of patient data is not only a legal obligation under HIPAA it is also a moral obligation. Outsourced medical transcription service providers understand the need for this and have measures in place to ensure HIPAA and HITECH compliance by securing people, processes, infrastructure and technology.

• Meeting turnaround time commitment: The provision of quality healthcare and to ensure quicker receivables cycle requires the patient medical records to not only be created with maximum accuracy but also on time. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure tight turnaround time by using a combination of well-trained teams of medical transcriptionists, diligent processes and the right technology.

• Billing methods: Reducing the cost of transcription is one of the prime reasons for outsourcing medical transcription. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that the pricing methods used by them are verifiable, measurable, definable, consistent, fair and honest. This ensures that the healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals understand the components of cost and are comfortable with the method of billing used by the medical transcription service provider. 

While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to source a medical transcription service provider who can provide medical transcription services while adhering to the above given standards

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne has used their extensive background in information technology to create systems that provide maximum benefits and save on efforts.

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

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

Medical transcription outsourcing: Evaluating quality services

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the audio of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. Patient medical records are an important component of the healthcare process as the information from these records aid the healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities in several aspects including:

◦   Patient treatment

◦   Permanent Patient records

◦   Referrals to other doctors

◦   Evidence in case of malpractice suits

◦   Coding, billing and insurance claims

◦   Satisfaction of regulatory norms.

Considering the value of information from patient records to both the operational and commercial aspects of healthcare it is important to ensure that these records are created on a timely basis and reflect accurate information.

The process of medical transcription requires a combination of the right team, the right technology and the right process to ensure quality. As medical transcription is not part of the core business of the healthcare facility and requires considerable resources to produce quality transcripts, the easy fix to ensure quality services is to outsource the entire medical transcription process to a professional service provider. Outsourcing medical transcription not only ensures accurate, secure and timely creation of transcripts it also provides the healthcare facility with the additional benefit of reduced cost and a robust technological infrastructure for medical transcription.

However while outsourcing one of the main concerns is to evaluate the medical transcription service provider's ability to deliver on quality as promised. The healthcare facility/ healthcare professional needs to assess the medical transcription service provider thoroughly to ensure that the service provider can deliver quality services as promised.

What are the criteria for evaluating quality medical transcription services?

Quality in medical transcription can be evaluated by focusing on the following aspects:

• Training methods: The quality of medical transcription work is dependent to a large extent on the skill level of the medical transcriptionists. To ensure that the medical transcription service provider has skilled people working on the transcription it is important to evaluate the training methods used by the service provider. A medical transcription service provider that believes in recruiting the best talent and further trains them to become domain experts in one or two specialties would be in a position to deliver accurate and timely services. The training provided by the service provider will also have an impact on the HIPAA and HITECH compliance; as well educated medical transcriptionists would understand the importance of maintaining confidentiality and maintain compliance.

• No subcontractors: While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to ascertain that the medical transcription service provider executes the transcription work in-house rather than further outsourcing the work to subcontractors. This ensures that the transcription quality is not diluted, turnaround time commitments are met with and the security risks are minimized. The medical transcription service provider will be in a position to provide customized solutions as per the preference of the healthcare professionals.

• Number of quality checks: While outsourcing medical transcription work it is important to understand the method used by the service provider to ensure accuracy.  It is important to assess whether the dictation and transcription are subjected to more than one set of “eyes and ears”. This will ensure that errors and gaps in transcription are minimized. There also needs to be a methodology that ensures that repetitive mistakes are caught and the causes are identified so as to ensure that these errors do not recur.

• Technology: While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to assess the technology used by the medical transcription service provider. Technology has a significant role to play in easing the working life of healthcare professionals and support staff, ensuring turnaround time and security by providing software and tools for transcription which are easy to use while enabling features like flexible modes of dictation, automatic upload of dictation for transcription, customized modes of document delivery, HL7 interface, archiving etc. 

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 help healthcare facilities save on time, money and effort. 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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Getting started on the right note!

It has been proven that outsourcing medical transcription has numerous benefits that aid the healthcare facility in reducing costs and increasing focus on the core business of providing quality healthcare. As medical transcription services are a continuous requirement, it is important to source a medical transcription service provider who can consistently provide quality services. While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to consider a medical transcription service provider who can be more of a partner than a vendor.

Once the medical transcription service provider has been sourced and evaluated it is important to formalize the expected service levels in writing. This will clearly establish the expected levels of quality, enabling the medical transcription service provider to gear their resources to deliver quality services consistently. As the needs of each healthcare facility are different it is important to define the parameters of service expected. The expected parameters can be categorized into:

• Quality: The parameters for quality medical transcription services would include: 

1.     Accuracy: Accuracy is perhaps the most important quality criteria as the information in the patient record is used by healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities for several purposes like imparting healthcare, as evidence in case of litigation, coding and billing etc. It is important to communicate the minimum expected levels of accuracy and also the guidelines for quality.

2.     Turnaround time: As information in the transcripts is vital for the both the operational and commercial aspects of healthcare it is important that patient records be made available on time. The turnaround time requirements may differ according to various factors like the criticality of the situation, emergency, specialty etc. These need to be defined.

3.     Format/ template: Formats/ templates of reports could vary based on the type of report, the specialty or even the based on the preference of the healthcare professional, these need to be clearly specified.

• Administrative: These would include: 

1.     Options to retain familiar modes of dictation: The medical transcription service provider should be in a position to allow healthcare professionals to retain their familiar modes of dictation allowing them to maximize the time available to them. And the dictation system needs to be configured to accept audio from varied sources.

2.     Upload of audio files: The medical transcription service provider has to configure a utility, which enables automatic transfer of audio to the medical transcription service provider, by checking at frequent pre-defined intervals.

3.     Modes of document delivery: Once the transcripts are ready it is vital for the medical transcription service provider to have modes of document delivery that enables the healthcare professionals to have access of transcripts through their preferred mode. There could be variations like delivery of transcripts to specific folders, delivery to multiple users, remote printing and faxing options etc

4.     Archives: It is important that the medical transcription service provider provides an archiving system which enables the healthcare professionals and support staff to retrieve old records using various search criteria

5.     Job summary: It is important for the support staff at the healthcare facility to keep track of number of dictations uploaded, work in progress and transcripts delivered. To enable this the medical transcription service provider needs to provide a comprehensive job summary with all these details.

6.     Billing method: Reduced cost is perhaps one of the main benefit one hopes to gain from the outsourcing process. To ensure actual cost savings, it is important that the medical transcription service provider clearly defines the billing method used along with all the parameters used for calculating cost.

• Technological: This would include: 

1.     Getting started with outsourced medical transcription services: Getting started on outsourced medical transcription services could include configuring healthcare facility system with the service provider's system, building VPN tunnels, installing software, ADT feeds etc.

2.     HIPAA / HITECH compliance: Protection of patient data during the medical transcription process can be ensured by use of security features like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers etc.

3.     HL7 interface: To configure the interfaces and deliver reports to EMR/EHR as HL7 messages at no additional costs.

4.     Upgrading software: Software to be upgraded automatically.

• Customer service channels: This step of the outsourcing process is simply establishing that the medical transcription service provider has channels of communication so that any issues that may arise during transition can be solved at once. Having open channels of communication with the service provider ensures that the healthcare professional/ healthcare facility is in a position to seek instant relief for any doubts/ problems that is faced by them during the course of transition to outsourced medical transcription services or during any subsequent stage  

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne provides outsourced medical transcription services that include all the service parameters described above.  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 trustworthy outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Fulfilling the purpose of clinical documentation

The process of healthcare is based on the premise of drawing meaningful and significant inputs from various sources, including the experience, education and expertise of healthcare professionals & support staff, inputs from other sources like pharmaceuticals, laboratories and numerous other sources. Information regarding every step of the healthcare process in a patient medical record is one factor that has always been a common factor helping bring together all sources to provide quality healthcare profitably.

Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the dictation of the patient- healthcare professional encounter. Accurate, timely and secure medical transcription is the result of the culmination of resources like the right team, the right processes and the right technology. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that patient medical records meet all the quality criteria without diluting the focus of healthcare facilities on their core business of providing quality care. Outsourcing medical transcription also ensures enormous cost saving benefits.

Outsourced medical transcription service providers help the healthcare facility fulfill the purpose of clinical documentation.

How do outsourced medical transcription services help fulfill the purpose of clinical documentation?

The purpose of documenting the patient- healthcare professional encounter can be defined as:

• To provide a point of reference: Patient medical records basically provide a chronicle of the patient's health history. This information is invaluable as a diagnostic tool for planning present and future care

• For the purpose of communication: The process of healthcare requires that a primary healthcare professional may refer to specialists for inputs regarding the treatment provided to the patient. Patient medical records are essential for communication in such cases.

• To establish accountability: Patient medical records act as evidence of the appropriateness of care provided. These inputs are invaluable in case of litigation where the healthcare professional has to justify the diagnosis and the treatment provided.

• Fulfill legislative requirements: Maintaining patient medical records for a certain period of time is mandated by law.

• Quality improvement: Documenting the healthcare process helps healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities improve the quality of healthcare services provided.

• Research: Patient medical records provide valuable inputs for research and also help healthcare facilities provide preventive care

• To ensure reimbursements: Patient medical records are the basis on which coding and billing is done leading to reimbursements. 

Outsourced medical transcription services help in all the mentioned aspects of documentation by providing services with the following benefits:

Accurate: Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that the transcripts are created with maximum accuracy using specialty trained medical transcriptionists and stringent quality check methods

Timely: Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that transcripts are made available to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals using a combination of the right team and the right technology

Secure: Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that the confidential patient data is secure throughout the medical transcription process by securing technology, teams and infrastructure

Cost effective: Outsourced medical transcription service providers are able to help healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals save on cost of transcription substantially by helping them convert fixed cost of transcription to variable costs, bring down the cost of medical transcription by passing on the benefits of economies of scale achieved by them and eliminating indirect costs.

Technology: Outsourced medical transcription service providers have used technology to provide medical transcription services with the following benefits, while still being easy to use:

• Retaining familiar modes of dictation
• Different modes of document delivery
• Archives
• EMR/EHR adoption 

It can be seen that outsourced medical transcription service providers understand the need for clinical documentation and help fulfill the purpose of documentation.

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 help healthcare facilities save on time, money and effort. 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.