Friday, June 21, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping create usable records

The healthcare process tends to be information intensive depending on the right data to arrive at the right course of treatment to be provided. Though this is the primary purpose for documenting the care process the information in patient medical records continues to play a role in numerous aspects of the smooth operations of the healthcare facility. Healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have numerous options available to them for documenting the care process, however it is important to select a method of documentation that blends in well with the working life of healthcare professionals and helps create records that are usable for all purposes for which they are created.

The options available to healthcare professionals to document the care process range from the most primitive form to the most sophisticated means including:

  • Handwritten notes
  • In house medical transcription team
  • Outsourced medical transcription services
  • Point and click entry by the healthcare professional at the point of care
  • Speech recognition software  
Availing outsourced medical transcription is the option best suited to the working style of healthcare professionals, the budgetary constraints of healthcare facilities, the varied documentation needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities etc as it is the method that meets all the usability criteria required of patient medical records.

What are the purposes of patient medical records and how do outsourced medical transcription services help meet these purposes?

Patient medical records are created as a means of recording the patient- healthcare professional encounter. The information from these patient medical records are used for various purposes including:

·       Means of interaction: The patient medical records reflect the entire medical history of the patient and this helps in fruitful interaction with the patient and his/ her family. Medical transcription ensures that patient medical records are created with maximum detail in an accurate manner using a combination of skilled medical transcriptionists and a stringent process. Moreover outsourced medical transcription service providers encourage healthcare professionals to use dictation as a method of collecting the information. Healthcare professionals prefer dictation using familiar modes to record the patient encounter, as this helps them optimize their time and helps in recording the narrative portion of the patient record, which plays a vital role in the care process.

·       Accountability: As healthcare is an important service requiring quality inputs from various healthcare professionals it is important that the patient medical record take note of this and reflect the origin of the care process as well as all the participants of the care process.  Patient medical records created by the medical transcription process clearly reflect all the healthcare professionals that are part of the care process.

·       Legal requirements: A well-created patient medical record is not only mandatory for the care process but also fulfils statutory requirements and is a part of risk management. Medical transcription ensures that patient medical records are created by recording all the nuances of the narrative and details of the care process in a timely and accurate manner

·       Quality and feedback: Patient medical records are also used as a means of assessing quality of care and providing feedback. Patient medical records created using outsourced medical transcription service providers reflect all the details required for this purpose

·       Research: Often new drugs or procedures are used for which detailed records are to be maintained in an easily accessible manner. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure detailed medical records are created and are easily accessible by archiving records and enabling search using different criteria.

·       Receivables management: Patient medical records not only aid in all above-mentioned area, but timely medical transcription can also help enhance the receivables management.

It can be concluded that outsourced medical transcription services help create patient medical records that meet usability criteria.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

To avail complete and reliable medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Creating synergies using operational expertise

In the modern world the importance of healthcare services is undeniable. Healthcare services are vital in life and death emergency situation and   play an important role in improving the quality of life. It becomes imperative for healthcare facilities to operate with maximum efficiency providing quality services while still maintaining profitability and meeting statutory obligations. Due to the sensitive nature of healthcare it becomes vital for healthcare facilities to focus on proper documentation for various purposes including clinical decision-making, referrals, billing, risk management, administration and statutory obligations.

The care process can be documented using various options like point and click templates by the healthcare professionals, using speech recognition software, having an in-house medical transcription department or outsourcing to a professional medical transcription service provider. As documenting the care process requires specific inputs in the form of skilled personnel, technology, efficient processes and allocation of space & other resources to meet all the quality criteria required, outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be one of the most efficient, effective and economic solutions.

Moreover outsourced medical transcription services create synergies with the healthcare facility by providing access to their considerable resources and operational expertise. This essentially provides healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals access to a wealth of resources in the form of skilled personnel and advanced technology without having to deploy massive investment outlays.

Some of the synergies that result due to medical transcription outsourcing are:

  • Easy volume management: One of the main impediments to the efficient running of an in-house medical transcription department is the inability to predict medical transcription needs on any given day as this is purely dependent on the influx of patients, which cannot be predicted. Outsourcing medical transcription helps healthcare facilities manage varying volumes of medical transcription requirements without adversely affecting quality or price.

  • Benefits of best practices established by the service provider: As medical transcription is the core business of the service provider, the service provider would have best practices in place to ensure quality transcription in terms of recruitment, training, quality assurance etc. By outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facility and healthcare professional can enjoy the benefits of best practices established by the service provider.

  • Software and tools for medical transcription: The process of medical transcription has evolved into a convenient and sophisticated service using technology. By outsourcing medical transcription healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have access to software and tools used by the medical transcription service provider without having to make enormous investments in acquiring and updating the right technology

  • Access to other skilled personnel: Though the process of quality medical transcription is heavily dependent on quality medical transcriptionists it also requires other personnel like managerial and administrative staff to run efficiently. By outsourcing medical transcription healthcare facilities gain access to these resources too with regard to medical transcription.

  • Helpful in planning: Outsourcing medical transcription essentially adds to the resources and workforce of the healthcare facility without adding on substantially to the costs of the healthcare facility. Having a partner for their medical transcription needs helps healthcare facilities to plan and deploy their resources strategically to gain maximum returns. 
Having the right medical transcription service provider as a strategic partner provides access to the teams and the operational expertise of the medical transcription service provider resulting in synergy that produces more than expected outcomes and efficiencies.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

To avail complete and reliable medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping meet the value proposition of a complete patient record

The process of providing quality healthcare cannot happen in isolation, as it needs inputs from various sources. Another salient feature of the healthcare process is the need to document every healthcare encounter capturing as many details as possible. The purpose of documentation is multi pronged; this data is not only used as reference for future encounters, for further treatments and as a component of risk management, this data is also useful for commercial and compliance aspects. Therefore it becomes essential for the healthcare process to be documented with care.

Healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities have numerous options available to them for documenting the care process, however outsourced medical transcription services has been found to be one of the most efficient, effective and economic methods of documenting the patient encounter. Medical transcription services ensure accuracy, turnaround time, security and savings on cost using the right combination of human expertise and technology. Moreover outsourced medical transcription service providers offer services that are tied to improved outcomes, compliance and reimbursement.

Given below are some of the advantages of outsourced medical transcription services that help in this regard:

  • Convenient: Outsourced medical transcription services are one of the most convenient methods of documenting the patient encounter, conforming intuitively to the working style of healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals have the convenience of retaining their current method of working, using dictation devices of their choice and having the transcripts created in the preferred format/ template.

  • Detailed records: Medical transcription is a process that enables the healthcare professionals to record their thought process during the course of providing treatment; this results in improved outcome in the form of better diagnosis and treatment.

  • Accurate: Outsourced medical transcription service providers not only ensure that detailed patient medical records are created including the narrative but also ensure that these details reflect maximum accuracy possible using skilled medical transcriptionists and multilevel quality checks.

  • Timely: Medical transcription service providers not only ensure accuracy but also ensure that the patient medical record is made available to the healthcare professional as soon as possible. Turnaround time options are customized to the specific requirement of the healthcare professionals. Timely medical transcription not only results in improved outcomes but also helps accelerate reimbursements.

  • Modes of delivery: Improved outcomes, compliance and reimbursements depend on the patient medical record's delivery on time reflecting all the details accurately. Medical transcription service providers have provided convenient delivery mode options to ensure that these transcripts reach the concerned person/s as specified

  • Archives: The care process could be a one-time encounter or could be for prolonged period of time. It is important for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to have easy access to transcripts for this purpose as well as fulfilling statutory obligations. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have made this convenient by archiving transcripts and providing access to search for older transcripts using easy search criteria.

  • HIPAA and HITECH compliance: One important aspect of compliance is that of protecting the confidentiality of the information in the patient medical records as mandated under HIPAA and HITECH acts. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure HIPAA and HITECH compliance throughout the entire process of medical transcription by securing all aspects involved in the transcription process.

  • HL7 interface: With the recent move towards a nationwide electronic healthcare system it has become mandatory for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to adopt EMR/ EHR systems. Outsourced medical transcription service providers aid in this by providing HL7 interface. 
It can be seen that documenting the care process using a professional medical transcription service provider can result in improved outcomes, compliance and reimbursements.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

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

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: What are the advantages?

Medical transcription has been a part of healthcare for a long time, though the actual process of creating patient medical records has evolved from the initial version of haphazard handwritten notes to that of specialized sophisticated services providing numerous advantages. Medical transcription services have evolved by leveraging on their in-depth knowledge of healthcare facility operations & the work life of healthcare professionals and using software and tools. This has enabled outsourced medical transcription service providers to provide services that meet the requirements of healthcare professionals, while still maintaining quality levels, security and price.

With the changing healthcare documentation scenario the role of medical transcription becomes even more significant given the wealth of experience and expertise at their disposal. Given below are some of the advantages of outsourced medical transcription services:

  • Volume flexibility: One of the biggest advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is that the healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals are ensured of quality services regardless of the volume of patients inflow. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have a large pool of specialty trained medical transcriptionists and the right processes in place to ensure that they can meet the varying volume requirements of healthcare facilities. This lessens the burden of the HIM department to a significant level.

  • Centralized solutions: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have a centralized solution to their medical transcription needs. Factors like different turnaround time requirements, different report formats/ templates, addition of new specialties, addition of new healthcare professionals, different document delivery modes and any other medical transcription requirements are provided by the medical transcription service provider.

  • Cost saving: Outsourcing medical transcription can help curb the cost of medical transcription in terms of both direct and indirect costs. In the long term the cost savings can play a significant role in improving the bottom-line of the healthcare facility. Outsourcing medical transcription also allows healthcare facilities to focus all their resources on their core business, which again adds to the profitability of the healthcare facility

  • Mitigate staffing concerns: As medical transcription is a manpower intensive process requiring qualified, trained and skilled medical transcriptionists to meet the quality standards, outsourcing provides a ready made solution to the staffing problems faced by healthcare facilities in this regard. 
Apart from the above benefits outsourced medical transcription services also have benefits like providing the right software and tools for medical transcription, adoption of EMR/EHR using HL7 interface, editing & proofreading services for speech recognition software created transcripts, providing convenient options for document delivery etc. Quality medical transcription also provides support for revenue management and risk management.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

To avail complete and reliable medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing services with a positive impact

Healthcare services have a significant impact on the quality of life. Being such an essential service, healthcare is subject to many rules and regulations.  Healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals draw upon resources from various sources to provide quality services while still meeting all these regulatory requirements and maintaining a healthy bottom-line.  To this end it is vital for healthcare facilities to focus on their core business and outsource those functions that are not part of their core competence.

Medical transcription is one such aspect of healthcare, which aids them in several areas and is essential for the smooth running but is not part of the core activities. Though the patient medical records created by the process of medical transcription aid in the reimbursement process but medical transcription itself is an expense head. Outsourcing medical transcription  ensures that patient medical records are created in an accurate, timely, secure and cost effective manner. Not only this outsourcing medical transcription has a positive impact on the healthcare facility operations.

The positive impact of outsourcing medical transcription is as follows:

  • Reducing costs: Reducing the cost per line of transcription is one of the most significant advantage of outsourcing medical transcription. As medical transcription is the core business of the medical transcription service provider, the service provider is able to pass on the benefits of the economies of scale, their experience and expertise to the healthcare facility in the form of significantly lower costs. However while outsourcing medical transcription it is important to evaluate the billing method used by the medical transcription service provider to ensure fair pricing.

  • Improving efficiency: Outsourced medical transcription service providers help improve the efficiency of the healthcare facility by providing services with the following benefits: 
1.     Enabling use of familiar modes of dictation
2.     Enabling automatic upload of dictation files at regular intervals
3.     Providing a system that enables tracking of dictation, work in progress, finished documents etc at any given time
4.     Providing various options for document delivery
5.     Archives
6.     Configuring systems for usage of multiple users
7.     Adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface
8.     Easy to use technology

  • Reducing overheads: Outsourcing medical transcription helps the healthcare facility save significantly on overheads like rent, furniture, computers, utilities, management personnel etc that would have been deployed towards in-house medical transcription.

  • Scalable solutions: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures curbing of wasted resources and capacity during slack times and extra payment for overflow transcription needs. Healthcare facilities can benefit from this by having scalable solutions according to their changing medical transcription requirements. 
It can be seen that sourcing and partnering with the right medical transcription service provider can have a positive impact on the working life of healthcare professionals and the   operations of healthcare facilities.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

To avail complete and reliable medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing meaningful support by understanding the healthcare process

In the recent past healthcare has seen many changes in the documentation processes required of it.  The move towards adopting a nationwide electronic healthcare system has had healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals scrambling to achieve the requirements specified by the meaningful use criteria. Medical transcription can play an important role in this process given the enormous expertise and experience that this industry has amassed. As a service medical transcription has evolved through its understanding of the working life of healthcare professionals and through constant innovations in software and tools used for medical transcription. 

The experience of the medical transcription sector combined with their understanding of the healthcare facilities' operations can help medical transcription service providers provide services that use a combination of well trained medical transcriptionists, advanced & easy to use technology and stringent quality assurance processes for the best results. The inputs provided by medical transcription companies to the process of documenting the healthcare process includes:

  • Knowledge of medicine: As medical transcription is a process closely associated with a critical service like healthcare it becomes imperative that medical transcriptionists have knowledge of medical terms, abbreviations, drugs etc. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that teams of trained and qualified medical transcriptionists with specific knowledge of the specialty they are transcribing in are available to help document the care process.

  • Understanding the needs of healthcare professionals: Outsourced medical transcription service providers are well versed with the needs of healthcare professionals. Combining this understanding with the best of technology has enabled service providers to provide services that have advantages like flexible modes of dictation, customized turnaround time, varied document delivery modes, reports in specified formats/ templates, easy access to older transcripts etc. Outsourced medical transcription service providers also provide editing and proofreading services for healthcare professionals using speech recognition software.

  • Eye for detail: The accuracy of the information captured in the patient medical record is critical for many aspects; clinical, operational and commercial. It is important for patient medical records to have details of the patient encounter to enable the data to be used for all these aspects. Medical transcriptionists are specially trained to ensure that detailed patient medical records are created to reflect the entire patient story.

  • Critical analytical skills: The process of creating patient medical records requires medical transcriptionists to be alert and knowledgeable. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that medical transcriptionists are well trained to critically analyze the patient medical record and correct any inconsistencies that may inadvertently occur. This ensures that all details are captured accurately and consistently

  • Adaptability to changing needs: Given the changing healthcare documentation scenario it is important for medical transcription service providers to be prepared to meet the challenges head on. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have geared all their resources to meet the changing needs of the healthcare sector including adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface. 
It can be concluded that medical transcription service providers provide meaningful support to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals by combining their understanding of the healthcare sector's needs, their experience and their expertise.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription services.

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 and reliable medical transcription solutions from TransDyne, click here.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: A balanced approach towards healthcare documentation

The process of healthcare requires many specialized inputs both in terms of healthcare related skills and experience and other aspects like consumables, pharmaceuticals and documentation. Healthcare documentation is an important contributor to many aspects of healthcare like clinical decision-making, risk management and receivables management. Healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities have various options available to them for documenting the care process including having an in-house medical transcription department, speech recognition software, entry at the point of care using point & click templates and the option of availing specialized medical transcription services from a professional medical transcription service provider.

Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages; however outsourced medical transcription services from a professional service provider provides the right balance of quality and price while remaining remarkably flexible.

In what aspects do outsourced medical transcription service providers provide a balanced approach to documenting the healthcare process?

Outsourced medical transcription service providers provide a balanced approach to the documentation of the healthcare professional- patient encounter by offering services with the following benefits:

  • Option to retain dictation as the method of capturing information: Outsourced medical transcription service providers allow healthcare professionals the option to use dictation as the method of capturing the patient encounter. This helps the healthcare professionals in not only managing their limited time efficiently, but also ensures that the narrative portion of the patient medical record is recorded in detail. Capturing the narrative ensures that the entire patient story is captured helping in continued care, referring to other healthcare professionals, billing and also risk management

  • Offering the choice to use preferred mode of dictation: Outsourced medical transcription service providers allow healthcare professionals to retain their preferred mode of dictation making it very convenient. Medical transcription service providers even accommodate the use of speech recognition software by providing editing and proofreading services to help bring the accuracy of the transcript to acceptable levels.

  • Providing accurate and timely service irrespective of the volume: Outsourced medical transcription service providers can cope with the varying volumes of transcription requirement without compromising on the accuracy levels or turnaround time. This helps healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities in managing limited resources efficiently.

  • Low cost services: One of the main advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is that of lowering cost of medical transcription substantially. This is a major advantage given the challenges faced by the healthcare sector.

  • Allowing adoption of EMR: Outsourced medical transcription service providers allow for adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface while still allowing healthcare professionals to document the care process using the familiar method of dictation to transcription.

  • Ensuring HIPAA and HITECH compliance: One of the concerns of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities is the need to protect confidential patient information. Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure HIPAA and HITECH compliance mitigating the concerns of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities during the medical transcription process. 
It can be seen that outsourced medical transcription services help healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities maintain a balance between quality documentation and lowering costs by providing accurate, timely, cost-effective and secure services

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

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

To avail complete and reliable medical transcription solutions from TransDyne, click here.