Outsourced medical transcription services and patient care

The primary goal of every healthcare facility is to maximize profits while providing quality healthcare. Achieving this goal would require a three-pronged approach:

• Increase focus on quality healthcare
• Decrease expenses towards activities that are not part of the core process
• Accelerate cash flow

Outsourced medical transcription has a role to play in all the three steps involved in achieving the goal of the healthcare facility.

What role does medical transcription play in increasing focus on quality healthcare?

Apart from the qualification and expertise of the healthcare professional, one of the main inputs for quality healthcare is accurate information. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the medical records are created accurately and on time by expert medical transcriptionists who are well versed in the language related to the specialty of the healthcare professional. This ensures that all the details of the patient-healthcare professional encounter are captured completely and accurately.

The information captured in patient records aids the healthcare professional by providing information on the following:

• A brief about the patient history and physical examination
• Existing health conditions if any
• Information on the current medication used and allergies if any
• Past symptoms and diagnosis
• Drugs/procedures/tests/therapies prescribed
• Results of tests
• Progress made by the patient

What role does medical transcription play in decreasing expenses towards non-core activities?

One of the main benefits of outsourcing medical transcription is that it not only reduces the cost per line of medical transcription, it also allows the healthcare facility to maximize focus towards providing quality healthcare. Resources like cost of direct employees, management staff, real estate, capital expenses for transcription equipment, cost of utilities for in-house transcription, Information technology (IT) for in-house transcription, and working capital requirements for transcription in-house can be redirected for other uses.

What role does medical transcription play in accelerating cash flow?

Medical transcription is the first step in the receivables cycle. By outsourcing medical transcription, patient records are created accurately and on time. Speedy creation of records ensures that the process of reimbursement is quickened, leading to shortening of the receivables cycle. This helps accelerate the cash flow.

It can be concluded that outsourcing medical transcription helps the healthcare facility focus on providing quality healthcare; helps reduce expenses and speeds up the reimbursement process. To reap maximum benefits of outsourcing medical transcription, a healthcare facility needs to evaluate the medical transcription service provider based on the following criteria:

• Accuracy: This means the percentage of accuracy of the completed transcripts vis-à-vis what was dictated. A minimum of 99% and above would be acceptable.

• Turnaround time: Turnaround time refers to the time taken to revert the transcribed report to the healthcare facility. A turnaround time of not more than 24 hours for normal reports and 4-12 hours for STAT reports would be considered ideal

• Data security: The service provider being outsourced to should be HIPAA and HITECH compliant. The medical transcription service provider has to have adequate security measures to ensure that the confidential data transmitted back and forth is safe and secure.

• Pricing: This is one of the main benefits that a healthcare facility hopes to have, from the outsourcing option. Pricing should be fair and reasonable for the services rendered. Pricing method should also be transparent and simple so that both parties can verify the same at any stage of the process

• Technology: The technology used by the medical transcription company should not only secure but should also be easy to use, without having to require extensive training.

TransDyne is a leading medical transcription service provider, providing medical transcription services that helps a healthcare facility focus on providing quality healthcare, helps them save on costs of medical transcription and helps accelerate the receivables cycle. 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.