Friday, August 16, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping standardize the healthcare process

The healthcare process depends on proper information flow to provide quality care and accelerate reimbursements. The process of documenting the patient- healthcare professional encounter has evolved over the years from a simple typing service to a service that aids the healthcare process in various ways.  Initially medical transcription was a simple service that essentially converted the audio dictation of the patient- healthcare professional into text format.

With the advent of technology and the increase for standardized documentation mandated by law, medical transcription evolved into a service that helps in standardizing the healthcare process. There have been many changes in the way medical transcription services work; one of the most notable being services that are not restricted to the physical proximity of the healthcare professional or healthcare facility.  This development has benefited both the medical transcription service provider as well as the healthcare facility.

By moving away from the concept of an in-house medical transcription department to that of specialized outsourced medical transcription services, these services have provided many benefits to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities, some of which are given below:

  • Allowing for increased focus on provision of quality care: By outsourcing medical transcription, the healthcare facility can increase the focus of their time, efforts and capital towards the process of providing quality care.

  • Substantial saving on costs, both direct and indirect: Outsourcing the medical transcription process helps the healthcare facility save on direct and indirect costs that would have been incurred by having medical transcription in-house.  Moreover outsourcing medical transcription essentially converts the fixed cost of medical transcription to variable costs

  • Benefit from the experience and expertise of the medical transcription service provider: Medical transcription is a specialized skill, which requires the culmination of the right team, the right process and the right technology to provide optimum results. Outsourcing to an experienced medical transcription service provider ensures that all the needs of the healthcare professionals are anticipated and solutions are customized to suit their needs.

  • Increased adaptability to changing statutory requirements for documenting: The very nature of healthcare services, mandates certain regulations regarding the norms for documentation, like adopting electronic health records; outsourced medical transcription services help healthcare professionals retain their preferred method of dictation- transcription while still enabling information to be transferred to EMR via HL7 interface. Factors like ensuring HIPAA/ HITECH compliance as mandated by law during the process of transcription are also provided for by the outsourced medical transcription service provider

  • Access to a bigger and better workforce: By outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have access to a large pool of skilled and trained medical transcriptionists. Not only that they also have access to the supervisory, the technical and managerial workforce of the service provider

  • Enhance patient safety by creating legible records: The process of medical transcription ensures that patient medical records are created by documentation experts who put each transcript through multiple level quality checks. This ensures that patient medical records are accurate and legible.

  • Improve workflow: The process of outsourced medical transcription services ensures a smooth flow for collection of dictation, transmission to the outsourced service provider and document delivery via the modes specified by the healthcare professional. Having quality information available on a timely basis through easy access modes enables a smoother workflow. Finding older transcripts is also easier due to the archive facilities provided by the outsourced medical transcription service provider, which enables easy searching using various criteria.

  • Helping the healthcare process by providing timely information: Outsourced medical transcription service providers ensure that patient medical records are made available to the healthcare professionals within the turnaround time specified by them.
It can be seen that outsourcing medical transcription can provide healthcare facilities with services that enable them to standardize their services, by providing accurate, timely, secure and cost effective transcripts.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has been providing medical transcription services for over a decade. TransDyne has used their extensive background in information technology to create systems that provide maximum benefits and save on efforts.

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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helping improve quality of care

Healthcare and information technology are inextricably linked together, in the sense that information technology helps the process of healthcare become more efficient, safer and cost effective. It is important to acknowledge the role of information in the process of healthcare and the role information technology plays to make this information more user- friendly. As healthcare professionals are essentially time starved it is important that the process for creating patient records should be integrated seamlessly into their working lives.

After each patient – healthcare professional encounter it is important to document the encounter in detail. This provides healthcare professionals a valuable source of information facilitating the following:

  • Patient medical history
  • Findings from the physical examination
  • Demographics regarding the patient which can provide valuable clues for diagnosis
  • Information regarding allergies, drug interactions etc.
Moreover information from patient records is an essential input for the coding and billing process and an important component of risk management. Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records converting the dictation of the patient- healthcare professional encounter into text format. Healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have various options available to them for the creation of patient medical records.

However while considering the various options available to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities for medical transcription it is important to consider an option that will seamlessly integrate into the current working style of healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals have shown a preference for the traditional method of dictation to transcription as this helps them in the process of providing healthcare.

How does the traditional method of dictation to transcription aid in the process of providing quality healthcare?

The process of providing quality healthcare depends on:

  • Accurate diagnosis, which depends on:
1.     Collecting detailed information regarding the patient's history
2.     Findings from the physical examination
  • Succinct documenting leading
1.     Crafting thoughtful diagnosis
2.     Make a note of questions that have not been adequately answered
  • Continuously refining and updating information regarding the patient and the progress made
  • Managing problems and conflicting medication
  • Ordering tests and tracking results.
Medical transcription is the process by which healthcare professionals can conveniently capture all these details, while allowing for healthcare professionals to use the preferred method of dictating the details on the patient- healthcare professional encounter using the mode of dictation preferred by them. As medical transcription is a specialized service requiring inputs in the form of the right team, the right process and the right technology, outsourcing medical transcription has been found to be an efficient and effective method of creating patient records.

Moreover outsourcing medical transcription provides the healthcare facilities with the following benefits:

  • Options for using familiar modes of dictation
  • An efficient system for medical transcription enabling upload of audio files and delivery of transcripts through preferred modes or delivery
  • A system for tracking dictation, work in progress and older transcripts
  • Specialty medical transcription service based on the specialty of the healthcare professional
  • Substantial savings on costs
  • Customized turnaround time
  • Adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface
  • Editing and proof reading services for speech recognition software transcription
  • Transmission of data through HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels
TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology to provide medical transcription solutions that provide healthcare facilities with maximum benefits while saving on time, money and efforts. 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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: Providing meaningful services

As the healthcare documentation scenario is undergoing major changes, the way in which clinical records are created and utilized has also seen major changes. Medical transcription services play a major part in the clinical documentation scenario through the sheer magnitude of education and experience amassed by them. Medical transcriptionists and medical transcription service providers have a deep understanding of how healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals work; combined with the vast store of knowledge and skills available to them, this puts them in an unique position to act as a catalyst in the process of adopting nationwide electronic health records.

Information has been vital to the process of healthcare, and as documentation specialists, medical transcription service providers provide support to the healthcare process. Healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals have found that outsourcing medical transcription leaves them in an unique position to enjoy accurate, timely, secure and cost effective creation of patient medical records, while leaving them free to focus on their core business.

Outsourced medical transcription service providers have always strived to provide meaningful services that have significant impact on the operations of healthcare facilities.

Some of the meaningful and significant services provided by outsourced medical transcription service providers include:

  • Accurate and timely medical transcription for varying volumes: Outsourced medical transcription service providers have added meaning to the process of simply converting the dictation of the patient- healthcare professional encounter into text by using the vast skills at their disposal by providing services with the following advantages:
1.     Ensuring correction of any oversight by the healthcare professional
2.     Subjecting each transcript to multiple level quality checks
3.     Ensuring that the dictated content fits the context

  • Accepting flexible methods of dictation: Outsourced medical transcription service providers have eased the working life of healthcare professionals by accepting dictation from various modes of dictation that the healthcare professionals find easy to work with.
  • Providing a system for medical transcription: The process of medical transcription needs support from technology to meet the expected quality criteria, especially turnaround time, security and easy to use features. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have adapted to this by not only providing end-to-end solutions, but also where required integrated with the existing systems of the healthcare facility to provide seamless services.
  • Allowing for healthcare facilities to capitalize on EMR/ EHR incentives: Outsourced medical transcription service providers have used HL7 interface to transmit data to the EMR/ EHR system without making any changes in the healthcare professional preferred method of document creation- dictation- transcription.
  • Providing editing and proof reading services for speech recognition software: Many healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities have started using speech recognition software to create transcripts. Though speech recognition software solves the problem of turnaround time, the accuracy levels are below acceptable levels. Outsourced medical transcription service providers have aided in this by providing editing and proofreading services for these transcripts bringing them up to acceptable accuracy levels.
TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology to come up with medical transcription services that provide easy to use solutions for the needs of healthcare professionals and other staff of the healthcare facilities. 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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Medical transcription outsourcing: The changing role of medical transcription in healthcare documentation

The healthcare sector today is going through many changes in the way the patient- healthcare encounter is documented. The announcement of the stimulus package for adoption of EMR/EHR systems using certified equipment and demonstrating meaningful use has brought about a major question about the role of medical transcription services in the process of adopting this new technology.

Considering the underlying objective of adopting nationwide electronic healthcare system, the role of medical transcription in this process becomes even more significant. The implementation of nationwide EHR systems have been encouraged to:

  • Improve quality of care
  • Reduce costs of care
Outsourced medical transcription services have earned their place in the emerging healthcare documentation scenario by virtue of contributing to the achievement of both these objectives. Medical transcription services contribute to healthcare documentation by:

  • Helping preserve narrative data: As healthcare is an essential service one involving decisions regarding life and death situations and involving the improvement of life situations; the importance of capturing the narrative story of the patient is vital. Medical transcription helps in capturing the total health story by converting dictation into text. This helps in improving the quality of care by converting mere data into information, which can be used for providing quality healthcare.

  • Having a core knowledge regarding the working of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities: Medical transcription service providers and medical transcriptionists have an inherent understanding of the working life of healthcare professionals and the running of healthcare facilities. This helps medical transcription service providers create solutions that help improve the working life of healthcare professionals by using software and technology to provide maximum benefits while still being easy to use.

  • Providing the benefit of training and knowledge to improve the quality of the data captured: Medical transcriptionists undergo a process of training that enhances their language skills, develops knowledge of the medical field, improves keyboard skills; these attributes make them adept at providing healthcare documentation that is accurate and timely. Not only that, medical transcriptionists also use their experience and knowledge of the healthcare field to apply context to rectify any oversight made by time starved healthcare professionals to produce accurate transcripts.

  • Being very adaptable to change: Medical transcription, the process of documenting the healthcare process, has seen so many changes affecting the way information is captured. Medical transcription has evolved as a specialist service that has seen changes in the way dictation is captured to the way that transcripts are delivered. The experience of medical transcription service providers to adapt to the changing needs of the healthcare sector puts them in unique position help in this transition.
Medical transcription services have used a combination of the right people skills, optimum process and advanced technology to provide accurate, timely, secure and cost effective transcripts.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has utilized their extensive background in information technology and their experience in providing medical transcription services to come up with medical transcription solutions that help healthcare facilities save on time, money and effort. TransDyne has a smart delivery system, which has features like User defined folder paths to enable easy imports to EMR systems. The Smart Delivery system is the suggested mode of document delivery where pre-defined file saving would help import documents to EMR systems.

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 outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.