Medical transcription outsourcing: Affordable services

Medical transcription is the process of converting audio records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format. By creating patient records, medical transcription is an integral part of the healthcare process both in the operational and commercial aspects. Though medical transcription is vital for the smooth running of the healthcare facility, it is not part of the core business of the healthcare facility.

Creation of patient records in-house would mean that the healthcare facility would have to allot valuable resources for in-house medical transcription, diluting the focus on the core business. Moreover executing medical transcription in-house would result in increasing the cost per line of transcription. Outsourcing medical transcription would ensure that the focus of the healthcare facility is not diluted and could help curtail the cost per line of transcription.

How does outsourcing medical transcription make it affordable?

Medical transcription is a specialized skill requiring total focus of the service provider, the right training methods, the right process for transcription and technology geared to make the process affordable, speedy, easy and secure.

Specialized skills: Medical transcription requires the medical transcriptionists working on the transcription process to have specialized skills like an ear for language/accents, knowledge of medical terminology, good keyboarding skills and research capabilities to fill in elusive words/drugs/procedures to ensure quality. Outsourcing medical transcription would ensure that the medical transcription service provider sources and recruits the right candidates and develops the skills of the medical transcriptionists to ensure that they can serve the needs of the healthcare professionals by creating patient records with maximum accuracy and within the turnaround time required.

Total focus of the service provider: Apart from the skill set of the medical transcriptionists, the process of medical transcription requires the total focus of resources like real estate, equipments, working capital and technology, to make it efficient and affordable. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the service provider focuses all its resources on the medical transcription process making it efficient and affordable.

Process for transcription: To ensure that the transcripts produced are of requisite quality, it important to have a process in place that ensures that more than one person hears the audio files. This ensures that the blanks in the transcript are minimized. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the transcripts are put through a stringent quality check process before transmitting back to the concerned healthcare professional

Right technology: Medical transcription has evolved over the ages into the virtual world. The process of medical transcription requires technology at every stage to make the process easy, speedy and secure. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the service provider has the right technology that only makes the process easy, speedy and secure but also provides additional benefits like archiving, HL7 integration and report distribution.

It can be concluded that outsourcing medical transcription not only makes it efficient and affordable but also has additional benefits in the form of increased accuracy and speed, technological benefits like archiving and HL7 integration.

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!

For more details about affordable solutions by TransDyne for medical transcription needs, click here.

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing astute solutions

Healthcare has always had to create a delicate balance between cutting costs and maintaining profitability while providing quality healthcare. To this end, healthcare facilities have strived to concentrate all their efforts and resources on their core objective of providing quality healthcare while outsourcing all activities that dilute their focus. This helps healthcare facilities consolidate their efforts towards maximizing profitability while providing the best possible care by reducing expenses.

One such activity is medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter from the audio files as narrated by the healthcare professionals. To be accurate, timely, secure and cost effective, medical transcription requires the right team, the right processes and the right technology.

Though medical transcription plays a vital role in providing quality healthcare, as evidence in case of litigation and as the foundation for the receivables cycle, it is not part of the core competencies of the healthcare facility and can end up costing healthcare facilities a lot in terms of time, money and resources. One easy fix for healthcare facilities to ensure that patient records are created in an accurate, timely and secure manner is to outsource medical transcription, Outsourcing medical transcription also helps healthcare facilities save on cost of transcription by 40-50%. Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider has proven that healthcare facilities can avail of the benefits of astute solutions for their documentation needs.

How does outsourcing medical transcription provide astute solutions?

The word astute has been defined as having or showing shrewdness, keen perception or judgment.

What do healthcare professionals expect from medical transcription services?

They expect the service to be quick, accurate, cost effective, secure and most of all easy to use! They expect the medical transcription service provider to understand their specific needs and use their judgment to perceive the best possible solution in a given situation without compromising the standards required.

Outsourcing medical transcription services definitely fit the definition of providing astute solutions by providing services that meet the needs of healthcare professionals in every aspect.

Technology that is easy to use: Healthcare professionals are highly educated and skilled professionals who provide a valuable service, which requires a huge amount of dedication, skills and time. Acknowledging this outsourcing medical transcription services have used technology that provides benefits to make the life of healthcare professionals and hospital staff easier. Not only do they use technology, which offers maximum benefits, but they have also ensured that this technology is easy to use, enabling healthcare professionals to optimize their limited time for the best use.

Some of the benefits of technology used by medical transcription service provider are:

1. Flexible modes of dictation
2. Automatic upload of dictation
3. Web based secure delivery of finished transcripts
4. Archives, enabling easy search of documents
5. Remote printing and faxing
6. Integration with EMR by HL7 interface

Accurate and timely creation of patient records: Healthcare professionals depend on the information in patient records to make informed decisions about the healthcare to be imparted to patients. Medical transcription service providers are aware of the importance of not only capturing all the details regarding the patient-healthcare professional accurately but also making this information available to the healthcare professionals on time. To this end medical transcription service provider ensure that transcripts are put through rigorous quality control to ensure accuracy and use the right process and technology to meet the turnaround time required by healthcare professionals/healthcare facilities

Security: The basis of the patient-healthcare professional relationship is based on the trust placed by the patient in the healthcare professional and the healthcare facility. Protecting the confidentiality of patient information is not only mandatory by law; it is also a moral obligation. Medical transcription service providers understand the importance of protecting this information and protect confidential data in patient records by securing people, processes, infrastructure and technology

Saving on cost: Being able to provide quality healthcare profitably is the objective of healthcare facilities. Outsourcing medical transcription aids in increasing profitability by helping save on cost of transcription by almost 40% to 50% as against in-house medical transcription. Not only does outsourcing medical transcription help curb cost, timely medical transcription can help accelerate the receivables cycle

It can be concluded that outsourcing to the right medical transcription service provider can prove to be an astute solution to the medical transcription needs of healthcare facilities.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry provides astute solutions to the medical transcription needs of healthcare facilities. 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 astute medical transcription solutions from TransDyne, click here

Medical transcription outsourcing: Save on costs

One of the main considerations in any business decision is the bottom line and the healthcare sector is no different. In fact in the healthcare sector there is a constant struggle to reduce costs and accelerate cash flow. Outsourcing medical transcription can help healthcare facilities in both these areas.

How does outsourcing medical transcription help save on costs?

Medical transcription has been an integral part of healthcare by creating patient records, which serve numerous purposes. Patient records play a vital role in the following:

• Provides the basis of continued care
• Provides information on the progress of treatment
• Acts as evidence in case of litigation
• Forms the basis of coding and billing leading to reimbursement
• Basis for referrals to other healthcare professionals
• Fulfills statutory obligation of maintaining patient records

Though medical transcription is necessary for the smooth running and the financial health of healthcare facilities it is not part of the core business of healthcare facilities. And because medical transcription is the process of creating valuable inputs like patient records it requires time, concentration, investment and skill that could dilute the focus of healthcare facilities from their core business of providing quality healthcare.

Medical transcription needs to be prompt, accurate and secure to ensure the smooth running of healthcare facilities. To ensure this healthcare facilities would have to dedicate a sizable portion of their resources and this would result in medical transcription being very expensive.

Outsourcing medical transcription provides the perfect solution to curb costs and ensures that standards are maintained. A professional medical transcription service provider would ensure:

Accuracy of above 99%: It is important that the information captured in patient records is as accurate as possible. To a large extent accuracy depends on the skills of medical transcriptionists. The skill of medical transcriptionists in turn depends on the service provider having a stringent recruitment policy and a thorough training program. By outsourcing medical transcription healthcare facilities essentially outsource all these activities. The quality of information captured in patient records is high owing to the constant endeavors of the service provider to recruit the best talent and train them to be specialists

Turnaround time of 24 hours: Apart from accurate information, the other main consideration is that creation of patient records should be prompt. This not only helps the healthcare professionals provide quality care but also helps accelerate the cash flow of the healthcare facility, as medical transcription is the foundation for the reimbursement process

Security: Maintaining the confidentiality of patient information is not only mandatory by law but is the basis of the patient-healthcare professional relationship. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the service provider provides adequate measures to ensure confidentiality of information during every stage of transcription

Technology that is easy to use: Medical transcription services are aided and enhanced by use of technology. Technology not only speeds up the process and provides for security, it also ensures that healthcare professionals and support staff benefit from numerous features like flexible modes of capturing dictation, automatic uploads & downloads, archiving, HL7 interface, remote printing and faxing etc.

Lower costs: Outsourced medical transcription ensures lowering of costs in two specific ways. Outsourcing ensures that the cost of transcription comes down by 40% to 50% ensuring savings. Outsourcing also ensures that all indirect costs like overheads & utilities etc are also eliminated.

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, 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 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:

1. Real estate
2. Computers, furniture and equipments
3. Utilities, like electricity, Internet charges etc.
4. Consumables
5. Taxes and benefits for employees
6. Management, human resource, Information technology and other assorted staff
7. 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, 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 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 speeded up, 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 synergic 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, 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 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 service provider.

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, 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 medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.