It is a known fact that finding the right transcription services to help with healthcare documentation needs can help curb costs. However finding the right medical transcription company can be a challenge. One needs to look security of information, quality of services and adequate connectivity. While these are genuine concerns, a deeper investigation of the capabilities of the service provider can help mitigate these concerns and provide access to a larger pool of talent that will ensure seamless services and curb costs of transcription.
There are certain aspects that need to be explored in detail while outsourcing medical transcription by posing pertinent questions:
Am I really saving on costs by outsourcing medical transcription?
Outsourcing to the right medical transcription company can attain cost savings of more than 40% on current costs. Making a detail analysis of current costs and comparing it with the costs quoted by the medical transcription company can ascertain savings on cost. An important aspect to check to ensure fair pricing is to check on the billing method used by the medical transcription company.
How can outsourced medical transcription really help me?
Apart from access to the vast resources of the medical transcription company in terms of people and technology, outsourcing medical transcription additionally helps save on time, ensures quality and cost savings
Does my service provider really understand the HIPAA/ HITECH implications? What are the compliance measures taken by them?
Concerns regarding the security of confidential patient information are cited topmost as an argument against outsourcing. To minimize concerns regarding security it is important that the business associate agreement with the medical transcription company focuses on binding not only the service provider but also the employees of the service provider.
Check for:
- Prevention of medical transcriptionist/s from downloading patient information
- Restricted internet access
- Resetting password at frequent intervals
- Anti-virus
- Workstation audits
HIPAA and HITECH compliant measures that cover:
- People and processes
- Infrastructure
- Technology
Who actually does the transcription work?
When outsourcing medical transcription work it is important to know who is actually transcribing the patient records. Quality and security of transcripts is dependent on the team working on it. It is important to check whether the medical transcription company is using subcontractors to execute the work. In case the transcription company is using sub contractors it is important to check whether they are bound by the same quality and security processes as the service provider.
The use of subcontractors or home-based medical transcriptionists can have serious implications on the security and quality aspects.
What is the technological capacity of the medical transcription service provider?
Check for:
1. Capacity and bandwidth for a secure virtual private network
2. Redundancy arrangements
3. Connectivity
4. Power and back up for redundancy and connectivity
5. Initiative for disaster recovery
6. Dictation modes
7. Document delivery modes
8. HL7 interface
What is their process for ensuring quality?
Accuracy or quality of documents is one of the topmost concerns of healthcare facilities looking to outsource their medical transcription work. To ensure that the medical transcription service provider can provide transcription work of acceptable accuracy, there are certain things that need to be looked at like the training process for medical transcriptionists and the quality check levels
What are the channels available for resolution of issues?
The process of outsourcing requires a certain period of hand holding to ensure that the process of transition is smooth. It is important to have a forum for addressing all concerns/ issues during the outsourcing process. Considering the location of the service provider it is imperative that customer service channels are available around the clock.
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.
Among the software and tools offered by TransDyne for transcription, the smart delivery system has a large role to play in easing the path to EMR/EHR adoption The Smart Delivery system, which has features like User defined folder paths to enable easy imports to EMR systems is the suggested mode of document delivery where pre-defined file saving would help import documents to EMR systems. Apart from this TransDyne also offers discounted rates for those healthcare facilities that provide demographic data entered in the EMR rather than through other modes.
Along with medical transcription services involving multiple level quality checks to ensure accuracy, the use of the right technology for ease of use, turnaround time and security, at reasonable rates, TransDyne also provides discrete reportable transcription for adoption of EMR/ EHR.
To avail complete medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.
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