Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Medical Transcription India Providing Trustworthy Services


In the age of globalization each and everything become fast and easy same is the case with the medical transcription outsourcing. It has become the need of the hour. Those who provide these services are very much in demand. The health industry needs a large number of people which can give them fast, accurate, timely and cost effective services.
All these things make India an ideal place for this purpose. India’s economy has undergone radical changes in the last decade. With the population over 1.5 billion, this country is a sea of skilled and educated personals. India is providing trusty worthy services in the field of medical transcription.
A country with science a whole lot of science graduates
There are many reasons to prove this point. First, the new generation of India consists mainly of science graduates. The first important step in this service is the training of the person rendering his services for MT. Who can adopt better to the medical terms than a science graduate. So, they are easy to train. The next important thing is the advance and good English. Most of these young men can speak, understand and write better English.
The time factor
The most important thing is the well equipped and emerging information technology in India. They are well familiar with the use of the internet and other computer related accessories. India is providing medical transcription services to the West for more than two decades. The out put from this country is always timely because this is almost four to five hours ahead of USA and most of the European countries. You can get your reports in the text format early morning. All this makes India a trust worthy service provider for the West.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

US Based Medical Transcription Services

Medical transcription companies have helped to ease the workload of medical practitioners to a great extent by saving them the effort and time required to transcribe and maintain all medical records that are generated on a regular basis. The array of medical records in the form of reports, notes and summaries that pile up each day in the health care units require a lot of time to be tackled and transcribed, often leading to backlogs. There are several providers of US based medical transcription services that ensure secure and quick transcription of all medical records.Customized Transcription According to Requirements

Medical transcription services can be customized and tailored according to needs. These procedures include flexible options for dictation capture, upload of voice files, transfer of files, management of records, retrieval of records and others.

The services provided by these transcription companies include-

• Document editing
• Approval, signing and saving of documents through single click function
• Voice file transfer is automated
• Easy retrieval of transcribed records
• EMR for electronic data management

Benefits of Outsourcing to US Based Transcription Companies

US based companies are well-versed with the local medical systems and the guidelines followed. They can properly understand the medical records that need transcribing, and are able to deliver superior quality of work. Some of the decided advantages of hiring the services of a US based transcription firm are-

• Quick turnaround time that prevents all backlogs
• Round the clock customer support
• Error-free documents ensured by multi-level checks
• FTP or File Transfer Protocol ensures secure delivery of documents
• Easy retrieval system of files
• Flexible dictation options
• Customized selection of text formats

US based medical transcription services are reliable and accurate with quick turnaround time. Health care units and professionals are quite relieved with the services provided by these firms as this has eased their burden substantially.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Medical Transcription Field as A Career

Nowadays, medical transcription field has become the most widely outsourced fields in the healthcare industry. Many youngsters are opting it as a career. While this field is less known as a career option, currently people are becoming aware of it. This is an interesting and challenging career.

Medical Transcription Process is the process whereby a medical transcriptionist accurately transcribes medical records dictated by doctors, including operative, history and physical reports, clinic, office & consultation notes, laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology reports. Transcriptionist is a person who assists doctors and physicians by transcribing, formatting, and proof reading their dictated medical report of a patient's health history.
Medical Transcriptionist has to perform functions such asproofreading, spelling check, grammar check, checking for medical inconsistencies and inaccuracies. To perform the mentioned tasks transcriptionist must have following skills:
  1. Excellent typing skills
  2. Excellent listening skills
  3. Knowledge of medical jargons
  4. Excellent command over English
Even if you don’t have some of these skills you can get some coaching over them and get started. Any person with any educational background i.e. graduates; undergraduates or anyone who have above-mentioned skills is eligible.
So if you possess all these skills then why not try it and see for yourself!

 

Friday, July 15, 2011

How to select a home transcription company?

Medical transcription was introduced about a decade ago. Since then, the medical transcription industry has changed and is quite different to what it used to be. Online and home based medical transcription is convenient and has become increasingly popular to everyone for money making.

Before you begin transcription for a company, you should look for following points

Look for Reputation
Look for Pay for Performance
Look for opportunities

Medical transcription was introduced about a decade ago. Since then, the medical transcription industry has changed and is quite different to what it used to be. Online and home based medical transcription services is convenient and has become increasingly popular to everyone for money making.

Before you begin transcription for a company, you should look for following points

Look for Reputation

You must make sure it is legitimate and has a good history and reputation with employees and in medical transcription industry.

Knowing the numbers of their MTs who have benefited from the company and what kind of advice they give could help.

Look for Pay for Performance

A key to getting onto the fast-track is for you to work for the right company. The right MT company is one that respects its transcriptionist and practices pay for performance.

On the other hand the people running the show should be realistic towards the quality and quantity. Pay for performance is good but should be a realistic.

Look for opportunities
Be sure that there are lots of opportunities for you to grow, develop and advance in your company. A medical transcription company should have ample amount of work/clients. Your future is too valuable to waste where there is no future.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Why Every Medical Transcriptionist Should Use Word Expander Software

Self-employed medical transcriptionists know that time is money and that to make a nice living working from home we all have to come up with the ways, as well as the financial means, to automate what we can.

Production is the name of the game when it comes to medical transcription. Producing more means more money. Usually speeding up our output comes with a price: sacrificing quality for quantity. However, it does not have to be that way.

People who do not work in the medical transcription field have no clue how much technology we use or how many software programs we must use and master to become proficient enough to earn a decent living as MTs. One such tool that helps us to speed up our production without jeopardizing the quality of our work is word expander software. Thank God for this tool. It not only helps us be more productive, it also may lengthen our careers as medical transcriptionists.

Word expander software, also known as text expander software, allows us to develop short forms of words and/or phrases which, when typed, will be expanded to show the full word or phrase. For example, if I type "ctr," the word expander software will expand that short form to "carpal tunnel release" which is called the long form.

The reasons for using this production tool are these:

First of all, a medical transcriptionist only has to type the long form correctly one time. It cuts down on the amount of editing that needs to be done.

Secondly, production can be increased manifold without compromising the quality of the work. Accurate medical reports are vital for patients getting quality care. Timeliness of getting the work done is of paramount importance as well.

Finally, what concerns me most as a medical transcriptionist-one who types tens of thousands of keystrokes per day-is the possibility that I and others in my profession may develop carpal tunnel syndrome or some form of tendinitis due to the repetitive nature of medical transcription.

The above reasons demonstrate that using word expander software in the performance of transcribing medical reports is not a luxury-it is a necessity not only for the benefit of our work and pay, but also our health.

If you are not using word expander software in your medical transcription business, consider looking into purchasing it now or in the near future. There are several packages that come at affordable prices. It is an tool you will soon appreciate and wonder how you did without it once you get it and implement it

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Medical Transcription Services Outsourced To India

You can now turn to India to meet all your transcription requirements. Several leading medical transcription service providers with genuine expertise have come up throughout India, to cater to the medical and legal transcription needs of offshore clients. The result of course is achievement of highest possible quality at very reasonable costs.

Skilled transcriptionists in India, who are knowledgeable in all areas of medicine, use latest technology to service the ever-increasing customer base of single doctors, clinics, practices and hospitals of all sizes. Additionally, support teams work with clients to provide quick and best solutions. Medical transcription service providers in India are equipped to act as capacity-rich partners, who can handle huge lines of transcription with speed and accuracy. These outsourcing service providers are ideally suited to customers with large, high volume transcription needs as well as those with lesser volume of transcription needs.

Following is the kind of medical transcription work that can be outsourced to India

* Operative Note

* Discharge Summary

* Medical Billing

* Progress Note

* SOAP Note

* Letters

* Initial Evaluation and Management

* Independent Medical Evaluation

* Telephone Consult

* Consultation

* History and Physical Notes, and more!

Indian medical transcription companies use secure streaming over the internet for handling of dictations or voice files and for the delivery of completed work. One thing to look out for is the security standards employed by these companies. It is desirable to meet the guidelines established in the four HIPAA categories specific to Transcription related organizations, including Administrative Procedures, Physical Safeguards, Security Services, and Security Mechanisms.

Transcription companies in India serving offshore companies boast of experienced production and quality Assurance professionals. All are HIPAA compliant, quality controlled, confidential, efficient, inexpensive, and secure. Proof reading teams ensure that there are no English or formatting errors. The world of opportunity also lies in the fact that these service providers minimize costs without compromising on quality and timely delivery.

To sum up, a vast pool of English speaking resources, Cost-savings, and quicker turn around time, are the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription to India.

Medical transcription outsourcing is one of the fastest growing outsourcing products. Most prestigious hospitals in US and other parts of the world are outsourcing their medical transcription work to India. Also, it is a very important part of the health care industry. Hence, physician's groups, individual doctors, as well as hospitals and clinics, all turn to India to receive superior, completely accurate and legal quality transcription work, done with utmost care and quality

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Beginning MT Requirements

I get questions all the time about becoming a medical transcriptionist. Some people think all you need is to be able to type and spell. I have listed below some basic requirements that are important to become an MT.

1. You must be able to type! If you don't know how to type or you have not typed for some years, then you need to get a typing program and start learning and practicing. Some of the jobs require a certain speed starting at least at 60 wpm and up. For a new medical transcriptionist quality is much more important than quantity (yes, you do need to spell those drugs correctly) but your speed will pick up as you do more and more work.

2. Take a medical transcription course. I truly don't know how someone can do it without take an MT course. Maybe someone who is already working in a medical facility and already familiar with the medical terms could do it but the average person needs specialized knowledge for this type of work. There are many medical transcription schools out there. Start researching them and find one that suits you financially and academically.

3. I have only worked for clinics. Hospital transcription requires a more advanced course. You could talk to personnel at some hospitals and see what their requirements are. A lot of schools offer complete training that would qualify you for hospital and specialties transcription.

4. Even though you work at home you must see this as a real job requiring many hours at the keyboard. Most doctors and hospitals require 24-hour turnaround. In the beginning it will take a long time to transcribe as you will have to be looking up a lot of things so you will be pretty slow. As you get more experience your speed will pick up and you will then be able to make more money as you can take on more and more work. 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Medical transcription outsourcing: Gain from the experience of the service provider

The healthcare process draws inputs from various sources like pharmaceuticals, laboratory services and information from patient records etc. to be able to provide quality services on a regular basis. It is important that the inputs that contribute to quality healthcare also meet a certain quality criterion so that the healthcare facility/ healthcare professional can successfully deliver quality healthcare.

Some of the inputs that form part of the healthcare are part of the core activities of the healthcare facility, but other inputs like medical transcription - the process of creating patient records is not part of the core business of the healthcare facility. For activities like medical transcription that have an important role to play in both the operational and commercial aspects of healthcare the easy fix to ensure efficient services is to outsource medical transcription services on a turnkey basis to a professional medical transcription service provider.

Outsourcing enables healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals to gain from the experience and expertise of the medical transcription service provider.

How does outsourcing medical transcription enable healthcare facilities/ healthcare professionals to gain from the experience of the service provider?

·                     By ensuring consistent quality: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the accuracy of the transcripts is very high. The outsourced medical transcription service provider would be able to ensure maximum accuracy due the following:

1.      Recruitment and training policies: Due to the experience of the service provider in having served the needs of healthcare facilities of different types the service provider would have refined their screening process to recruit the best talent. They would also have training practices in place to refine the skills of the medical transcriptionists to ensure maximum accuracy

2.      Quality check methods: The medical transcription service provider would have a method for ensuring maximum accuracy by ensuring that each transcripts is subjected to a stringent quality check policy

·                     By coping with varying quantity: Recruiting and training medical transcriptionists is a continuous process for the medical transcription service provider, this will enable them to cope with varying quantities of transcription needs without affecting the accuracy levels or turnaround time commitments.

·                     By using technology to provide numerous benefits: The process of medical transcription needs the right team, the right process and the right technology to serve the needs of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals in the manner required. Knowing this and being aware of the time constraints faced by healthcare professionals and support staff, the medical transcription service provider would use technology that serves all the requirements of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities while still being easy to use.

·                     By reducing cost of medical transcription: Outsourcing medical transcription also helps the healthcare facilities save on cost of medical transcription substantially. Not only does outsourcing reduce the direct cost of transcription, but also outsourcing enables the healthcare facility to save on indirect costs that would have been involved in the medical transcription process.

·                     By ensuring HIPAA/HITECH compliance: Another concern that healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals are faced with is the need to ensure confidentiality of patient records. An experienced medical transcription service provider would ensure HIPAA/ HITECH compliance by securing people, processes and technology.

It can be seen that outsourcing to an experienced medical transcription service provider ensures accurate, timely, secure and cost effective creation of patient medical records, allowing healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to leverage on the experience of the medical transcription service provider.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Medical transcription outsourcing: Services that mitigate concerns


Healthcare services are always poised on a delicate balance, having to meet the growing demand for quality healthcare with that of contradictory demands placed on them by various sectors. The demand to provide quality services has always has been needed to be balanced against profitability and the need to meet statutory demands. One of the other factors that is vital in the delivery of healthcare services is the need to maintain the security of confidential patient information.

Due to the varied demands placed on the healthcare sector a prudent option for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals is to concentrate on their core competence and outsource other related areas to competent service providers. One such aspect that benefits from being outsourced is medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the dictation of the patient – healthcare professional encounter. The information from these records is then used for providing patient care, receivables management and risk management.

Outsourced medical transcription services provide services that mitigate most of the concerns that healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have in this regard:

  • Maintaining quality: The quality of the information captured in the patient record needs to be accurate to ensure proper care. Moreover detailed information in the patient medical record also ensures better coding and billing. Having the entire sequence of care documented also acts as protection in case of litigation. Outsourced medical transcription services ensure high accuracy levels using skilled personnel and stringent processes, mitigating many of the concerns in this regard

  • Meeting turnaround time: For the information in patient medical records to be useful for all aspects – care management, receivables management and risk management it needs to be available on a timely basis. Medical transcription companies ensure prompt turnaround time by using a combination of skilled personnel, the right processes and technology to ensure this.

  • Reducing costs: With spiraling costs and stationery level of reimbursements, controlling costs is one of the major concerns of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals. Outsourcing medical transcription mitigates this concern by providing quality services with savings of as much as 40% as against in-house transcription. Outsourcing also enables healthcare facilities to cut down overhead costs.

  • Ensuring easy to use technology: Another major concern for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals with regard to medical transcription is that of technology that is difficult to use. Medical transcription service providers mitigate this concern by using advanced technology that provides all the benefits while still remaining easy to use.

  • Mitigating security concerns: Maintaining the confidentiality of patient information is essential for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals. Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider mitigates this concern by protecting this data at all levels using secure technology, secure infrastructure, maintaining stringent measures to protect infrastructure and educating people on the need to meet HIPAA and HITECH compliance.

Outsourcing medical transcription mitigates many of the concerns of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals in this regard. Not only that outsourced medical transcription companies also provide services with additional benefits like transcription services for varying volumes, editing & proofreading services for back end speech recognition software and HL7 interface for EMR adoption.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping improve performance metrics


The pressures on the healthcare industry are endless, having to meet the needs of all the participants, stakeholders and various regulatory authorities. The operations of healthcare facilities are further complicated by limited resources and the numerous demands made on these resources. It becomes important for healthcare facilities to prioritize their core activities and outsource those activities that are not core activities. This will not only reduce the strain on their resources but also allow healthcare facilities to avail specialist services that help improve their performance metrics.
Medical transcription is one such activity that provides support to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities by creating accurate, timely, secure and cost effective patient medical records. Not only that outsourcing medical transcription also helps healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals improve their performance metrics. 
How does outsourcing medical transcription help improve performance metrics?
Outsourcing medical transcription helps strengthen the operations of healthcare facilities in areas like clinical decision making, risk management and receivable management, which in turn help improve some of the criteria used for measuring performance metrics.
The criteria used for measuring performance metrics are: 
Time: Outsourcing medical transcription helps the creation of patient medical records within short turnaround time. Outsourced medical transcription companies also use software and technology that help ease and speed up the process of collecting dictation and delivery of transcripts thus help in effective management of time
Cost: Outsourcing medical transcription results in substantial reduction of transcription costs. And timely medical transcription also helps in better receivable management by helping quicken the process.
Resources: Outsourcing medical transcription not only reduces the actual cost of medical transcription but also results in better resources utilization like real estate, computers, other equipment and management personnel which would have been used for in-house medical transcription.
Scope: Outsourcing medical transcription also ensures that the medical transcription company provides services that cover the entire scope of transcription services, taking care of various specialties, dictation modes, document delivery modes, HL7 interface and even editing and proofreading services for speech recognition software transcription
Quality: By maintaining the quality of information captured in patient medical records, outsourced medical transcription services provide important support to improving the quality of care.
Actions: Outsourcing medical transcription also ensures a smoother flow of information by providing easy to access archives facility. This ensures that the action of the doctors/support staff/clinics/hospitals is directed towards the betterment of the quality of healthcare services.
It can be concluded that choosing the right medical transcription company, which can provide complete support in terms of people, processes and technology can help improve the performance metrics of the healthcare facility.