Medical transcription outsourcing: Skilled services

The delivery of quality healthcare depends on a delicate balance of educational qualification, skills, experience and information to ensure success. Considering this, any service that supports the healthcare process needs to be skilled to meet the high standards required for successfully providing quality healthcare. Medical transcription is one such service that supports healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals in various aspects.

To meet the stringent standards required of healthcare documentation, medical transcription needs to be skilled in all aspects. Considering the time and effort to acquire, develop & maintain the right teams, the processes and technology skills required for quality transcription, outsourcing medical transcription to a professional medical transcription service provider is the right solution. A skill can be defined as the ability to do something well developed through knowledge, practice and aptitude.

Skilled medical transcription services can be defined as:

Knowledge: The delivery of quality transcription services requires knowledge about the working life of healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to help hone the right skills and develop suitable solutions. Medical transcription companies need to have:

• Knowledge of medicine: The skill for delivering quality medical transcription services requires the medical transcription company and the team of medical transcriptionists to have knowledge of medicine and terminology associated with medicine to ensure accurate transcription

• Knowledge of what healthcare professionals require: Delivery of quality medical transcription services also requires knowledge of the requirements of healthcare professionals with regard to transcription. Factors like turnaround time, report templates etc have to be factored to deliver quality services.

• Knowledge of the latest developments: The healthcare scenario and especially healthcare documentation is marked by constant changes. Medical transcription companies need to be aware of these developments to ensure that proper solutions are found for these requirements as they arise

• Knowledge of HIPAA and HITECH: Medical transcription companies need to be aware of the importance of the need to maintain the security of confidential patient information throughout the transcription process.

Practice: Apart from an in depth knowledge regarding the workings of the healthcare sector, another factor that helps medical transcription companies build on their skills is practice or experience in serving the needs of various healthcare facilities.

• Experience in having served various healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities:  The needs of each healthcare entity is different in all aspects and diverse experience helps medical transcription companies develop their skills

• Experience in having served all specialties: The language, the procedures, the formats, the drugs etc for each specialty is different. Experience in having served the needs of different specialties helps medical transcription company deliver services with more skill.

Aptitude:  Medical transcription services have evolved into services beyond mere typing or data entry. It is important for medical transcription companies to develop aptitude in various aspects:

• Aptitude for sourcing the right team: One of the main components of quality transcription is the right team. A medical transcription company needs to develop the skill for sourcing the right talent and training techniques ensure a skilled team of medical transcriptionists.

• Aptitude for developing the right processes: Due to the criticality of the information in patient medical records it is important for the medical transcription company to have the right quality process in place

• Aptitude for technology solutions: Technology has eased various aspects of transcription for the end users like modes of dictation, modes of document delivery, HL7 interface for EMR/ EHR adoption etc.  A medical transcription company needs to develop the aptitude for developing technology solutions for transcription, which provide maximum benefits while still being easy to use.

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing services for all users

Healthcare requires proper documentation of the patient encounter for various purposes as the details in the patient medical record are accessed and used by various users for diverse purposes. Patient medical records are accessed by:

• Healthcare professionals
• Reimbursement agents
• Insurance companies
• Legal professionals
• Medical researchers
• Billing coders
• Audit contractors
• The patient

Given the varied uses for the information in patient medical records it is important to ensures that the data in these records is comprehensive and checked for integrity.

Medical transcription has been serving the healthcare community by helping document the patient- healthcare professional encounter ensuring comprehensive detail and integrity. Though there are many methods of documentation available to healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals, medical transcription, especially when outsourced ensures that the dictation of healthcare professionals detailing the patient encounter is transcribed in the manner required for all purposes.

Medical transcription services ensure that the audio files of the healthcare professional are transcribed with an understanding of the purposes for which it is going to be used.  Apart from this medical transcription companies also ensure that services are prompt, cost effective rates, HIPAA  & HITECH compliant and using technology that provides maximum benefits while still being easy to use.

The benefits of outsourced medical transcription services for the various stakeholders in the healthcare process are:

Healthcare professionals: The information in the patient medical records is used for various purposes including diagnostic, referral and future treatments. Medical transcription companies ensure that the data in the patient medical record is accurate and delivered within the turnaround time committed. Moreover medical transcription companies also facilitate the use of dictation modes of choice, document delivery modes as per specification among various other benefits.

Reimbursement agents and Insurance companies: A detailed and comprehensive patient medical record checked for the integrity of the information is the basis of proper reimbursement. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures this.

Legal professionals: In an increasingly litigious atmosphere, it has become imperative to maintain detailed records of the care process as evidence in case of malpractice litigation. Medical transcription companies help create patient medical records that include complete and comprehensive details of the patient encounter checked for integrity.

Medical researchers: Complete patient medical records are essential for research purposes. Medical transcription companies ensure complete documentation including the narrative portion of the patient encounter.

Billing coders: Accurate and prompt medical transcription ensures that billing coders can accurately code the records in preparation for speedy reimbursements.

Audit contractors: Medical transcription helps in complete creation of patient medical records, which helps with compliance issues

Patients: Patients require the complete record of their care process for various purposes in a form that is easy for them to comprehend. Medical transcription companies ensure that patient medical records are created with complete details that are verified using multiple level quality check in a legible form.

It can be concluded that using the services of a professional and technologically savvy medical transcription company ensures the creation of patient medical records that meet the needs of all the participants in the healthcare process.

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.

Medical transcription service

Medical transcription services have played an important part in the healthcare documentation scenario from the very beginning. Medical transcription services have evolved along with the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities drawing on their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector, their expertise in using technology and the best practices developed over time to provide quality services.

Medical transcription  services contribute to the creation of patient records, which helps healthcare facilities in many ways:

• Provides the basis of continued care
• Provides information on the progress of treatment
• Acts as evidence in case of litigation
• Forms the basis of coding and billing leading to reimbursement
• Basis for referrals to other healthcare professionals

Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that records of the patient- healthcare professional encounter are created in a timely, accurate, secure and cost effective manner. However while outsourcing medical transcription it is important to source a medical transcription service provider who can provide a total solution to the medical transcription needs of the healthcare facility.

• Medical transcription solutions for varying volumes: In the healthcare business it is impossible to predict the inflow of patients and thereby it is not possible to predict the volume of transcription requirements. While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to evaluate the service provider on the basis of their ability to cope with varying volumes of transcription. To provide total solutions, the medical transcription service provider needs to be able to meet the holiday and weekend transcription requirements

• Quality medical transcription: Along with the ability to cope with varying volumes the medical transcription service provider also needs to ensure that the quality of transcription is maintained to minimize errors.  While looking for total solutions for medical transcription requirements it is important to evaluate the medical transcription company on basis of methods used to ensure quality

·       HIPAA and HITECH compliant: While outsourcing medical transcription it is important to ensure that the medical transcription service provider has adequate measures in place for protection of confidential patient information. Medical transcription service providers come under the purview of HIPAA and HITECH as business associates, as they have access to patient health information and are involved in the process of transmitting this data back and forth during the process of transcription

• Medical transcription for all specialties: While looking for total solutions for medical transcription it is important to evaluate the ability of the medical transcription service provider to cope with transcription needs of different specialties without compromising accuracy and turnaround time

• No additional investment required: While looking for total medical transcription solutions it is important to ensure that minimal or no investment is required to avail the services

• No overheads: One of the major advantages of outsourcing medical transcription is the cost factor. Outsourcing medical transcription not only ensures enormous cost savings to the healthcare facility, but also ensures that the healthcare facility incurs no indirect expenses like overheads. While looking for total solutions it is important to ascertain that cost is restricted to the cost per line of transcription

• Software and tools for medical transcription: Technology plays a vital role in medical transcription, both for ease of use and for security purposes. While sourcing total solutions for   medical transcription services it is important to evaluate the technological capabilities of the medical transcription service provider

It can be concluded that medical transcription services have a large role to play in the healthcare documentation scenario meeting the needs of all the participants.

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 and editing & proofreading services for adoption of EMR/ EHR .

To avail complete medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here



Medical transcription outsourcing: Serving the healthcare sector with ability and agility

Given the current demands placed on the healthcare sector it is important for the services associated with healthcare to have both the ability to provide quality services consistently and the agility to quickly come up with solutions for the changing needs.  Medical transcription is one such service that has had to constantly demonstrate its ability to consistently provide quality services and the agility to meet the requirements of the changing healthcare documentation scenario.

Medical transcription by its very nature is a service that requires not only the right ability and agility but also requires inputs in the form of the right team, the right process and the right technology. Therefore the prudent option for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals seeking to avail efficient transcription services while keeping costs under control is to outsource medical transcription to a professional transcription vendor.

Medical transcription services with ability and agility:

Quality services: The ability of a medical transcription company can be evaluated based on the quality of services provided. The quality of transcription services can be defined by the following:

·       Accuracy: Accuracy in case of transcription can be defined by the percentage of accuracy in the finished transcripts versus the dictation. The ability of the medical transcription company to provide accurate transcription can be evaluated by assessing the quality process and the training process to ensure skilled medical transcriptionists.

·       Turnaround time: Turnaround time can be defined as the time taken to deliver the finished transcripts. The ability of the medical transcription company to meet turnaround time commitments can be evaluated by assessing the quality process, the availability of skilled medical transcriptionists and the technology used by the medical transcription company

·       Cost: Savings on cost of transcription is one of the most important motivating factors for outsourcing. This can be evaluated based on the billing method used by the medical transcription company.

Technology, which is easy to use: Medical transcription services have become more efficient using technology. In fact every step of the transcription process relies on technology to provide maximum benefits while still being easy to use. Some of the benefits of technology are:

·       Various dictation modes and automatic upload for transcription

·       Options for document delivery once  transcription has taken place

·       An interface for tracking the transcription work

·       HIPAA and HITECH compliance during the transcription process

Meeting changing requirements: The agility of the medical transcription company can be defined by the way they adapt their services to changing needs. Some of the areas in which medical transcription services have demonstrated their agility are:

·       Hl7 interface for EMR/ EHR adoption while still retaining transcription as  the means of documenting the patient encounter

·       Editing and proofreading services for speech recognition software transcription

It can be seen that outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the needs of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities are met with the right ability and agility.

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.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping promote excellence in healthcare

As healthcare is a vital service that helps improve the quality of life by improving the health of patients, there is a constant need to strive for excellence in providing services. Having to provide excellent services on a constant basis while balancing other requirements like profitability, meeting statutory obligations and protecting confidential patient information can be a daunting task. The common factor that aids healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals meet most of these requirements is information from patient medical records, supported by robust technology enabling easy access and security.

Medical transcription is one of the methods of documenting the patient encounter and collating the information required for various purposes.  Outsourcing medical transcription has been proven to improve not only the quality and speed at which patient medical records are created it also helps save on costs. As medical transcription is one of the most preferred and time tested method of documenting the patient encounter it helps promote excellence in healthcare.

Some of areas in which outsourced medical transcription services help promote excellence in healthcare are:

• Improving focus on patients: Documenting the patient encounter using familiar modes of dictation enables healthcare professionals to focus on the patient. Unlike other methods where the healthcare professional is forced to enter the details at the point of care, outsourced medical transcription services encourage the healthcare professional to concentrate on the care process and offer them dictation options as per their choice, helping them mange their time better.

• Preserving the entire patient story: Documenting the patient encounter using the services of a medical transcription company ensures accurate transcription of the entire encounter including the narrative. Having the entire patient story enables better diagnosis. Retaining the narrative as a part of the patient record also ensures continuity of care in case of long-term treatment.

• Saving on time: Another area in which outsourced medical transcription companies help promote excellence in healthcare is by saving on time of healthcare professionals and other staff, The management of transcription in-house can be a time consuming process and outsourcing helps support staff of the healthcare facility to use their time towards the core objective of providing quality care and maximizing profits

• Saving of efforts: The process of medical transcription requires the right team, the right process and the right technology to be effective. Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that healthcare professionals and other staff have to put in minimum efforts towards organizing these resources while still maintaining the required quality standards like accuracy, turnaround time, security etc.

• Saving on costs: One of the most obvious benefits of outsourcing medical transcription is the savings on cost both direct and indirect. Moreover time medical transcription can also help regulate the flow of revenue by quickening the receivables cycle.

• Better information access and sharing: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that healthcare professionals have easier access to current as well older records. Outsourced medical transcription service providers also offer various delivery options, which enables easy and secure sharing of information.

• Providing support for adopting newer technologies: Partnering with a professional and technologically savvy medical transcription company ensures that the path to adopting newer technology is smoother. Medical transcription companies enable adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface and also offer editing & proofreading services for transcripts produced by speech recognition software.

The right medical transcription service provider as a partner for medical transcription needs can help promote excellence in healthcare.

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.

Medical transcription services: OB/GYN

Obstetrics and gynecology (often abbreviated to OB/GYN, OBG, O&G or Obs & Gynae) are the two surgical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs, and as such are often combined to form a single medical specialty and postgraduate training program. This combined training prepares the practicing OB/GYN to be adept at the surgical management of the entire scope of clinical pathology involving female reproductive organs, and to provide care for both pregnant and non-pregnant patients.

OB/GYN is a medical specialty that requires the healthcare professional practicing it to have the requisite training and qualification. Similarly transcribing the audio records of Obstetricians/Gynecologists requires that the medical transcriptionists working on it possesses the requisite training and knowledge to be able to provide transcription services with the required accuracy and turnaround time from the very beginning.

Recognizing the need for specialist medical transcriptionists to take care of a specialist’s needs, TransDyne has created a team of medical transcriptionists, proofreaders and editors specializing in OB/GYN transcription.

How does specialist training in OB/GYN transcription affect accuracy levels?

Medical transcriptionists, proofreaders and editors are familiar with all the requisite terminology, procedures and the drugs used in OB/GYN due to the training program aimed at familiarizing the medical transcriptionists with this specialty. This ensures that the error rates in transcripts are drastically reduced and the accuracy levels are high. The team is able to produce high quality reports from the very beginning.

How does specialist training in OB/GYN transcription affect turnaround time?

Due to the training methods used the medical transcriptionists are very familiar with the specific terminology used and are able to produce transcripts with requisite accuracy within optimum turnaround time.

How does specialist training in OB/GYN transcription affect cost per line of transcription?

Due to the reduced error rate and reduced turnaround time the need for multi level quality checks is reduced and the productivity of the medical transcriptionist is enhanced this helps keep the cost of production under control and the benefits of this are passed on the healthcare facility.

TransDyne provides OB/GYN medical transcription that is cost efficient, speedy and accurate. Moreover Obstetricians/Gynecologists can benefit from the other features of medical transcription services by TransDyne like:

Data Security: TransDyne ensures data security of Medical Transcription by incorporating security measures like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security, safeguards, firewall protected networks, sterilized e-mail servers, denial of access procedure and multi modal alerts. TransDyne also ensures data security by ensuring that the data doesn’t leave their premises physically. To ensure secure medical transcription all the transcription is done in the company’s own premises and the premises are secured through appropriate security measures. TransDyne meets and exceeds all HIPAA regulations that apply to electronic exchange of information.

Technology: Considering that time is one of the most precious commodities for healthcare professionals, TransDyne believes in using technology that provides multiple features with ease of use. Some of the features of the software and tools used by TransDyne are as follows:

• Smart upload: TransDyne offers doctors the choice of using modes of dictation they are already comfortable with. Then these files can be uploaded to the servers to be made available for transcription. Smart upload enables transfer of dictation files from the healthcare facility’s server to TransDyne’s server by checking for new dictations at pre-fixed intervals.

• Web Delivery: TransDyne’s web delivery system tackles all issues related with tracking dictations, receiving documents and finding old files form the archives.

• Smart Delivery: Smart delivery is an automated program that addresses the automatic downloads, saving files and printing needs of a healthcare facility.

• HL7 integration: TransDyne can configure and send healthcare information as HL7 messages to the client’s EMR with no additional costs.

To avail OB/GYN medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Going the HITECH way!

Health Information Technology for Economy and Clinical Health (HITECH) act providing for privacy and security of patient health information was enacted on 17^th February 2009, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (ARRA). The HITECH act has become effective on 17^th February 2010.

HITECH has improved and expanded on the concerns and issues addressed by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). HITECH has added new requirements concerning privacy and security for health information that materially and directly affects many entities, businesses, and individuals in ways more diverse than HIPAA

How does HITECH affect medical transcription service providers?

HITECH has added as ‘Business Associates’, organizations that transmit protected Health Information and require access on a regular basis to such information.

Medical transcription is the process of converting audio records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format. The process of medical transcription is made efficient and cost effective when outsourced to a professional medical transcription service provider. Medical transcription service providers come under the purview of HITECH as business associates, as they have access to patient health information and are involved in the process of transmitting this data back and forth during the process of transcription.

What are the steps to be taken by a medical transcription company to ensure compliance with the HITECH act?

To be compliant with the HITECH act, the medical transcription service provider needs to implement the following:

Identify the compliance requirements specific to their organization

Carry out a risk analysis that includes the total flow of Patient Health Information (PHI) during the process of transcription. This needs to include the beginning of the process, all the steps in between up to the conclusion of the process, namely:

1. Collection of dictation
2. Transmission of audio files
3.  Distribution of audio files for transcription
4. Shared access for quality checks
5.  Transmission of transcripts back to the healthcare professionals
6. Archiving

Identify the high-risk areas and look at the current risk containment measures. Revise the measures to ensure that they are in tandem with current requirements and latest technology, making sure there are no loopholes to allow for breaches

Ensure that employees and any third parties having access to PHI are fully trained on the privacy and security requirements. Make them aware of their role in protecting PHI

Review existing relationships between covered entities and develop a continuing compliance strategy

Develop a strategy to minimize breaches, an early detection plan for identifying breaches and an action plan for quick responses to contain breaches, if any

While outsourcing medical transcription, it has become important for healthcare facilities to ensure that the service provider is fully aware of the requirement to protect the PHI under the HITECH act and have measures in place to ensure compliance.

TransDyne a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has always understood the importance of securing and protecting confidential patient health information during the process of medical transcription. Measures have been taken to ensure that PHI is protected at all levels. The measures taken by TransDyne to be HITECH compliant include:

Securing people and processes:  People and processes are secured by implementing the following:

1.     No sub-contractors: Work outsourced to TransDyne is executed in-house and no subcontractors are used.

2.     Educating the team: The transcription team, i.e. medical transcriptionists, proof readers, language editors and the quality assurance team have been educated on the importance of protecting and securing PHI

3.     Inbuilt security routines: All applications and processes have inbuilt security measures like password changes, access audits and related exercises.

4.     Joint access: Most confidential databases can only be accessed by a combination of passwords of a minimum of two individuals.

5.     Restricted Internet and Email access: Unlimited access to Internet can lead to security breaches. Access is limited to a few limited sites.

6.     Legal Declarations: Declarations are signed by employees undertaking to maintain the security of data.

7.     Security audits: Frequent audits are carried out to ensure that all procedures are followed and are effective

8.     Disabling ports for removable media: Ports for using removable media have been disabled to eliminate misuse of PHI

Securing Infrastructure:  Infrastructure is secured by the following means:

Company owned and managed facilities

1.     Manned security

2.     Video surveillance

Securing Technology: Technology has been secured by use of security features like

1. All medical transcription related software applications are built in-house. 
2. Database based systems.
3. 128-bit data encryption
4. Multi-tiered application architecture
5. Design level security safeguards
6. Firewall protected networks
7. Sterilized e-mail servers
8. Denial of access procedures and
9. Multi-modal alerts

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.