Medical transcription: Outsource the right way!

Medical transcription is an important contributor to the smooth running of a healthcare facility. It is important for medical transcription to be accurate, timely, reasonably priced and transmitted through secure channels. Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider can make this possible.

However while outsourcing such a vital function as medical transcription, care needs to be taken to prepare the groundwork for outsourcing:

• Preparing the groundwork for outsourcing: Outsourcing a vital part of the healthcare process to a service provider is essentially like taking on a long-term business partner. Thereby it is important that the decision to outsource is based on inputs from every department affected by the decision.

What are the factors to be considered before outsourcing medical transcription?

• Consulting staff: The services of the medical transcription service provider are going to be used by not only healthcare professionals, but also support staff, billing department and Information technology department. It is important to get inputs from all the people who are directly or indirectly affected by medical transcription so that the right service provider is selected

• Drawing up objective criteria for evaluation: It is important to have a clear objective for the outsourcing plan; this enables the healthcare facility to evaluate the medical transcription service provider thoroughly. The criteria for outsourcing could be varied, it could be cutting costs, streamlining transcription flow, reducing turnaround time or improving quality. Sometimes it could be a combination of one or more of the objectives.

• Follow up references: instead of taking the promises/claims made by the service provider it is important to check the references provided by the medical transcription service provider to ensure that they can deliver the promises made by them.

• Analyze quoted price thoroughly: The billing methods used in medical transcription are varied and are subject to manipulation. The price quoted by the medical transcription service provider cannot be taken at face value, it is important to know the components of cost to be able to compare the prices quoted by different providers in an equitable manner.

• Focus on factors beyond price: Medical transcription plays a long-term role by documenting the patient data. This information could be called upon in the future for various purposes, including litigation. It is important to weigh factors like the capability of the medical transcription service provider in providing similar services, quality of reports, the skill set of medical transcriptionists, adoption to EMR and archiving capabilities in addition to the cost factor.

• Consider future requirements: It is important to choose a service provider who has the capability to grow along with the future requirements of the healthcare facility. Factors like increasing volumes, adding on new specialties will affect the level of service required. The service provider needs to be evaluated on the basis of their ability to service future requirements

• Consider technological compatibility: Technology has changed the way medical transcription works. Information Technology (IT) has made the process simpler, quicker and more secure. It is important to evaluate the service provider on the basis of technological capabilities and whether further investment is required on the healthcare facility’s behalf before availing the services

• Avail free trial: It is important to test the services of the medical transcription service provider by availing a free trial before actually signing the agreement.

• Contract evaluation: The contract is the document that specifies the service level expected. It is important to study the contract carefully for clauses that are binding and consider their impact before signing. Points like use of subcontractors, provisions for HIPAA compliance need to be included in the contract document.

TransDyne is a leading provider of outsourced medical transcription services that has anticipated the needs of healthcare facilities and designed their services accordingly. TransDyne offers 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 benefit from outsourced medical transcription services by TransDyne, click here.