Medical transcription outsourcing: Helps make the organization structure leaner

Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. It is a non-profit making but essential part of the healthcare process. It is considered to be one of the cost heads. The aim of most healthcare facilities is to reduce the cost of medical transcription as much as possible. Outsourcing medical transcription helps reduce costs both directly and indirectly.

How does outsourcing medical transcription reduce direct costs?

Outsourcing medical transcription reduces direct costs by reducing the following cost heads:

• Reduce the cost of medical transcriptionist staff on the rolls: One of the main contributors to the cost of medical transcription in-house is the need to maintain the manpower to execute the work. Outsourcing medical transcription needs can bring down not only the salaries paid to the medical transcriptionist but also bring down other costs like taxes, benefits like insurance, down time when work is slow, overtime payments, the cost of weekend and holiday transcription etc.
• Bring down the cost per line of transcription: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures that the healthcare facility ends up paying very less per line of transcription due to benefits like economies of scale, lower cost of living at the outsourcing company location, and the benefits of best practices adopted by the service provider.
• Reduce the cost of medical transcription equipment: For medical transcription to be executed in-house the healthcare facility has to invest in medical transcription equipment like computers, servers, earphones, foot pedals etc. These expenses are eliminated with the outsourcing option.

How does outsourcing medical transcription reduce indirect costs?

Outsourcing medical transcription reduces indirect costs by reducing the following cost heads:

• Reduce the cost of management resources: Managing medical transcription in-house would involve allocation of management staff for activities like recruitment, training, supervision of medical transcription work. By outsourcing medical transcription, management expenses towards managing medical transcription in-house would be dramatically reduced.
• Reduce the cost of utilities: Utilities like power, water, stationery, consumables etc. add to the cost of medical transcription in-house. Outsourcing medical transcription would eliminate all these costs.
• Reduce the cost of real estate: Executing medical transcription in-house would mean allocating space for this purpose. This cost of real estate would add to the cost of transcription. Outsourcing medical transcription would totally eliminate this cost head.

Outsourcing medical transcription needs would make the organization structure leaner by eliminating the need to maintain a huge staff on the rolls, while at the same time bringing down the cost of transcription dramatically. It allows the healthcare facility to take advantage of opportunity costs which would have been lost by allocating essential resources to in-house transcription like investments in capital equipment, space allocation, management resources etc.

Outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne helps not only eliminate direct and indirect costs of in-house transcription, it also offers advantages like:

• Accuracy level of above 99%
• Turnaround time of 24 hours, with an option of 4-12 hours turnaround time for STAT reports
• Data transmission through secure, HIPAA and HITECH compliant channels.
• Technology that enables easy uploads and downloads, and offers powerful archival facilities.
• Familiar and flexible modes of dictation.
• HL7 integration, which allows for interface with EMR systems.

To know more about the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne, click here

Medical transcription: What makes good services exceptional?

Outsourcing medical transcription can be a mind-boggling exercise. It not only involves extensive analysis of the healthcare facility, but once this is done it also entails careful and detailed examination of the options available. On the face of it this could seem like fairly simple and straightforward exercise.

The process of analyzing the options available becomes complicated due to the following reasons:

Varying needs of a healthcare facility could comprise of the following:

1. Different specialties requiring different report formats, turnaround time etc
2. Unpredictable inflow of patients, causing medical transcription needs to vary.
3. Weekend and holiday medical transcription requirements
4. Flexible options required for expansion plans
5. Integration with existing systems.
6. Healthcare professionals wanting to retain their current dictation modes.
7. EMR adoption

A medical transcription service provider needs to be evaluated on the following:

• Quality/Accuracy: The quality of the transcribed document refers to the percentage of accuracy in the transcribed document viz. a viz. the audio files.
• Turnaround time: Turnaround time is the duration between uploading dictation to the server and when the final transcribed document is made available to the healthcare facility
• Price: Pricing refers to the cost line of transcription
• Security: Security refers to the measures taken  by the medical transcription service provider that  protects confidential patient data during transmission and during the transcription process ensuring HIPAA and HITECH compliance.

However these are just the basic criteria for evaluating a medical transcription company, a healthcare facility needs to look for qualities that make a medical transcription company exceptional.

The qualities that make a good medical transcription service exceptional are as follows:

Billing method used: Billing methods used by the medical transcription service provider have a direct effect on the bottom line of the healthcare facility. Billing methods vary from charging for a page, a gross line a report or that of a character line. The billing method used by the medical transcription company needs to verifiable, measurable, definable, consistent and fair & honest.

TransDyne uses the 65-character line method of billing, which is approved by the AHDI. Care is taken to explain the billing methodology at the beginning so that there is no ambiguity.

Quality assessment methods used: The quality of the transcribed document is measured by the percentage of accuracy of information transcribed. Minimum or zero error means that the records of patients reflect the correct information. This is critical for the ability to give quality care. A medical transcription company needs to be assessed by the methods used for achieving accuracy to assess its’ ability to achieve promised accuracy levels

TransDyne offers transcription with accuracy of 99% or above. TransDyne ensures quality by adopting a four level quality check of medical transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit in charge and finally by Quality Assurance team which tries to minimize errors before returning the finished reports.

Training methods used: Training methods used by the medical transcription company has an effect on both the accuracy and the turnaround time.

TransDyne believes that it takes a specialist to take care of special needs. That is why medical transcriptionists here are trained on one or two areas of specialty. This makes them domain experts. This reduces the learning curve and enables them to meet stringent accuracy standards from the very beginning, and they are also able to meet the turnaround time guarantees.

Technology used: Technology used by the medical transcription company has its impact on ease of use as well as the security of data. Because medical transcription involves the transmission of data, care has to be taken to make that appropriate security measures are in place. Technology can save a lot of time for healthcare professional by including features like flexible modes of dictation, easy upload and download of finished transcripts.

TransDyne ensures security 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’s system has features like Smart Upload, Smart Delivery and allows for flexible modes of dictation. TransDyne also offers a web delivery system, which offers archiving facilities. TransDyne has HL7 interface for easy integration with EMR

Flexibility in services: Considering that the needs of healthcare facilities can vary due to various factors, it is important that the medical transcription service provider is flexible and adapts itself to suit varying needs.

TransDyne has experience serving all types of healthcare facilities by offering services that are tailor made to suit their unique needs

Free trial without obligatory sign up: This is very important to assess the services of a medical transcription company before signing up with them.

TransDyne offers the opportunity to have the benefit of their services for a limited period for free. This enables the healthcare facility to understand the advantages of partnering with TransDyne for their medical transcription needs

To know more about exceptional medical transcription services by TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription: The decision making process for outsourcing

There are several reasons to outsource medical transcription; one of the main reasons is to reduce the burden of non-healthcare related work for everybody involved in the running of the healthcare facility.The decision making process becomes comparatively difficult when the purchase decision involves availing services rather than a tangible physical product. But is the process of evaluation so different?

What are the usual criteria for evaluation for any major purchase and how does it apply while evaluating medical transcription?

Quality: Quality is perhaps the most important aspect that is evaluated during the purchase process. This becomes very critical while evaluating services as important as medical transcription.

Quantity: This criterion covers two aspects. The quantity that is required and whether the required quantity can be supplied. Again this aspect is vital to a healthcare facility, as in this case the required quantity cannot be predicted and the medical transcription service provider has to be able to cope with varying needs.

Right price: Apart from quality and quantity, getting the right price is very important. In case of a healthcare facility looking to outsource medical transcription needs, cost is perhaps the main driver for the outsourcing decision.

Reliability: In any purchase decision the product/service needs to be reliable. This could mean that the company providing the product/ service should be well established and have the right technology and the right processes in place to provide reliable services.

Safety: Safety features of the product need to be evaluated before making the final decision. In case of a healthcare facility maintaining safety or security of confidential patient information is mandatory.

Guarantee: Guarantee for the performance of the product again plays a very important role in the buying decision. In case of a service like medical transcription the guarantee could be both for turnaround time as well the accuracy levels.

Ease of use: Nobody likes to buy a product that is difficult to use. This applies very much to a healthcare facility looking to outsource medical transcription. Using this service should be made as easy as possible without affecting the security and performance features.

Robust technology: Technology plays a major role in most products/ services. Technology needs to be robust and consistent to ensure the continuity of services.

After sales service: This is an oft-ignored factor, which turns out to be a glitch after one has availed of products/services. Continued customer care is a vital factor for smooth transition to outsourced medical transcription.

Track record: A good track record/reputation of the company with customers who have purchased the products or availed of the services can provide an additional comfort level.

Well-developed web site: A well developed website could pretty much cover all these factors. When a healthcare facility looks for options to outsource medical transcription, a well-developed web site can cover all these points and also provide additional information regarding the benefits of availing the services from the service provider.

It can be seen that any purchasing decision tends to follow the same procedure, in case of outsourcing services only the evaluation criteria differs. Medical transcription is a critical function for a healthcare facility and it affects both profitability and the core business of providing quality healthcare. Care should be taken to select a company, which fulfils all these criteria.

TransDyne is a  leading provider of medical transcription, given below is the analysis that shows that TransDyne more than fulfills all the above criteria:

Quality: TransDyne offers transcription with an accuracy level of above 99%.

Quantity: TransDyne has a large pool of qualified and well-trained medical transcriptionists, who can deal with varying volumes of transcription without compromising quality or turnaround time.

Right price: TransDyne offers medical transcription at reasonable and fair prices using a transparent billing method

Reliability: TransDyne medical transcription service is reliable and consistent. It covers even holiday and weekend requirements.

Safety: Security of data is ensured at TransDyne by the use of right technology, right process and right infrastructure. TransDyne has educated their team on HIPAA and HITECH regulations to ensure total confidentiality.

Guarantee: TransDyne offers a guaranteed turnaround time of 24 hours, with an option of 4-12 hours turnaround time for STAT reports. Accuracy levels are guaranteed at 99%

Ease of use: TransDyne believes that technology should be advanced, but easy to use. That is why it offers flexible modes of dictation, easy upload and web delivery systems that require minimum or no training.

Robust technology: TransDyne uses robust technology like 128-bit data encryption, multi-tiered application architecture, design level security safeguards, firewall protected networks etc.

After sales service: TransDyne is available to its customers 24/7 to provide support.

Track record: TransDyne has an excellent track record of their performance with healthcare facilities of all types. The testimonials of some of these success stories are available at their web site.

Well-developed web site: TransDyne has a web site, which offers comprehensive information about the company, services and methodology etc.

To avail superior medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription: Strategies for outsourcing

What is the strategy to be adopted for outsourcing medical transcription?

1.Identify healthcare process: This will show the healthcare facility the flow of work and identify processes that can be outsourced and those, which are to be retained in-house.

The typical workflow for healthcare would be as follows:

• Appointment by patient to visit doctor/emergency visit
• Filling up of demo forms
• Doctor visit
• Dictation of notes
• Medical transcription
• Medical coding
• Medical billing
• Insurance claims processing
• Re-imbursement
• Follow up of payment over and above insurance re-imbursement.

This flow clearly shows that the first four tasks cannot be outsourced but other tasks like medical transcription can be outsourced.

2.Assess the feasibility of outsourcing medical transcription:

a. Can medical transcription be executed outside the healthcare facility premises?

With the advent of Internet, it is possible for medical transcription to be executed outside the physical premises of the healthcare facility.

b. Are there any security implications to outsourcing medical transcription?

Security of confidential patient health information has to be ensured. Care has to be taken to make sure that the medical transcription service provider is HIPAA and HITECH complaint and covered under a business associate agreement.

c. Can medical transcription be tailor made to match the requirements of the healthcare facility?

The needs of different healthcare facilities is different, care has to be taken to source a medical transcription service provider who can cater to different volumes, formats and specialties and according to the turnaround time specified.

d. Can the medical transcription service provider’s performance be monitored?

The performance of a medical transcription service provider can be monitored in terms of accuracy and turnaround time.

3.Sourcing medical transcription service provider

a. Cost: Savings on cost  is perhaps one of the most important criteria for outsourcing, Care has to be taken that the cost per line of transcription parameters are understood completely before comparing quotes.

b. Turnaround time: Turnaround time is an important factor that affects both the healthcare and profitability aspect of the healthcare facility.

c. Availability of talent pool: To make sure that a service provider can provide continuous and consistent service it is important to evaluate the talent pool available to the service provider.

d. Risks: This refers both to the risk of poor quality as well as security of information. To mitigate this assurances of quality level and the security measures taken by the service provider need to be evaluated

4.What is the value proposition of outsourcing medical transcription?

a. Speed: Outsourcing medical transcription ensures the speedy creation of medical records under all circumstances.

b. Profit increase: Outsourcing medical transcription brings down the cost per line of transcription and improves the bottom line. It also helps increase profits by shortening the receivables cycle.

c. Increased process efficiency: Outsourcing medical transcription increases the efficiency of the healthcare process by making information available to the healthcare professionals on time.

d. Improved Management focus: Outsourcing medical transcription improves the management focus by freeing up valuable resources like real estate, supervisory staff, capital investment etc.

TransDyne is a professionally managed medical transcription service provider that offers quality 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 avail TransDyne’s superior outsourced medical transcription services, click here.

Medical transcription: Easy access to archives

The field of medicine is constantly evolving at all levels. There have been advances in the methods of diagnosis, the techniques used for testing as well as the drugs and treatment prescribed. One thing that has not changed over time is the need for accurate and timely information by healthcare professionals to provide quality healthcare.

Along with the evolution of healthcare field medical transcription has also evolved a long way from hand written notes to creation of medical records in an electronic form that can be accessed at the click of a button.

Outsourcing medical transcription needs can go a long way in easing the burden of making accurate information available to a healthcare professional on a timely manner.

What role does technology play in medical transcription?

Technology plays an important role in the process of medical transcription. Technology helps speed up the process at every level.

Dictation: Technology plays a major role in providing healthcare professionals flexible options like digital recorders, mobile phones or any other method with which they are familiar with for recording their dictation, which allows them to make the best use of their time.

Upload of audio files: Upload of audio files, which have been stored in the system, can be done automatically by having a system, which uploads these files at pre-determined intervals automatically.

Transmission of data: Technology plays an important part in making sure that the data remains secure during transmission by use of encryption and firewalls.

Transcription: The actual transcription process also required technology like word documents, formats etc.

Downloading transcribed files at the healthcare facility: Once the files have been transcribed these need to downloaded at the healthcare facility end. These files are then distributed, saved and printed as per requirement.

Archives: Archiving of records and easy access to these records is probably one of the most important use of technology. This makes the process of following up dictated files, finished files and access to archived reports very easy and timely.

Before outsourcing the medical transcription needs the medical transcription service provider also needs to be assessed on various factors like:

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 company 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: Lowering cost of transcription 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

TransDyne has a Web Delivery System that addresses all problems associated with tracking dictations, receiving documents, and accessing old records. Some of the features offered by this system are:

User profile: Multiple users can access this system. Access can be limited according to requirements. A single user may have access to documents of multiple providers.

Inbox: This shows the list of documents that have been newly delivered. User may save or print these documents. Once this has been done the documents are not longer displayed here.

QC hold: This holds the documents where some blanks have been left due to various reasons. The concerned healthcare professional may view the documents here and make the necessary changes.

Powerful archival and search options: Once logged into the Web Delivery System the user can search for documents based on different criteria like Date of service, Date of dictation, patient name or healthcare professional name ore a combination of any these criteria. This system makes it easy to access data, which are several months old within seconds.

To avail superior medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription: What are the methods of quality assessment?

Quality is an important criterion in any decision making process. Assessing quality becomes even more important when it comes to availing service as critical as medical transcription. Medical transcription is the process of converting audio records of a patient- healthcare professional encounter into a text format.

The accuracy/quality of medical transcription critical as this forms the basis of:

• Permanent patient history
• Present and future treatment plan and basis for monitoring progress of the patient
• Referrals/tests/procedure
• Statutory requirements
• Evidence in case of disputes/litigation
• Accounts receivable processing

It is important that records that play such an essential role be of the highest accuracy/quality possible. While making the decision to outsource medical transcription needs it is vital to ensure that the medical transcription service provider has HPI guidelines in place for assessment of quality.

What are HPI guidelines?

The concept of Quality Assessment (QA) began in 1990 when a format was developed by Judy Hinickle to assess quality of transcription. This was followed by presentations made to thousands of transcription supervisors and educators around the country by Health Professional Institute (HPI), Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), and Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA).

Health Professions Institute then adapted and promoted this for its standard-setting SUM program for medical transcription. This QA method is the basis of most programs and is of most thorough and effective nature, embracing true Continuous Quality Improvement concepts.

TransDyne executes medical transcription using quality guidelines by HPI

What do HPI guidelines consist of?

HPI guidelines consist of quality check parameters and computing system for quality satisfaction and highest accuracy levels. HPI guidelines are categorized as follows:

• Error 1. Medical Word misuse-Point 1.00: This is considered one of the most serious errors as it can affect every aspect of treatment administered to the patient. Even billing information is affected by this error. Guesswork or making up of words when dictation is not understood is also included in this error category.
• Error 2. Omission- Point 1.00: This is also considered an equally serious type of error as it reflects poorly on the ability and professionalism of the medical transcriptionist.
• Error 3. Medical word misspelling- Point 0.75: This is the incorrect spelling of medical terminology.
• Error 4. English word misspelling or Misuse -Point 0.75: This includes misspelling of English words nouns, verbs, qualifying adverbs etc, which could have a serious consequence.
• Error 5. Inappropriate blanks- Point 0.75: These refer to blanks that are left unfilled, and those, which could be filled up by extensive research by the medical transcriptionist.
• Error 6. Grammar errors- Point 0.5: Grammar errors include incorrect use of medical abbreviations, misuse of words, misuse of parts of speech, misuse of subject-verb, singular/plural misuse, etc.
• Error 7. Punctuation errors- Point 0.5: Include errors with regard to punctuation like coma, colon, semi colon etc that change the meaning of the sentence if misused.
• Error 8. Typographical errors- Point 0.25: Minor grammar, punctuation or capitalization errors.
• Error 9. Formatting errors- Point 0.25: This error refers to the prevailing departmental/physician guidelines for placement of certain information within the document. E.g. Headers, Footers, templates as defined by the client.

Having these quality guidelines in place ensures that everybody in the TransDyne team is guided by the same principles. TransDyne offers quality medical transcription with accuracy of 99% or above. TransDyne ensures quality by adopting a four level quality check of medical transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit in charge and finally by the quality assurance team which tries to minimize errors before returning the finished reports.

To avail superior medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription: Gain a partner through outsourcing

Outsourcing medical transcription needs can be a tricky decision involving a long process of qualification and then the process of evaluation. But when done right it can mean that the healthcare facility gains a partner who will shoulder a big portion of the burden of non-healthcare related issues of the healthcare facility.

Before this can happen there may be many questions/queries/ doubts raised by healthcare professionals that need to be addressed by the healthcare facility administration to ensure smooth transition to outsourcing.

Some of the main questions/queries/doubts raised by healthcare professionals could be along these lines:

Will outsourcing medical transcription provide more time for the practice of medicine?

Outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne has the benefit of freeing up the time of healthcare professionals, because all aspects of documenting the patient-healthcare professional encounter are done in a prompt and professional manner, by the use of right people, right processes and the right technology. This means that the information required to make an informed decision is available at the right time and with high levels of accuracy.

What about the quality/ accuracy of finished transcripts? What are measures taken to ensure quality?

TransDyne assures an accuracy level of above 99%. Accuracy levels are maintained by having stringent quality assurance procedures in place involving four level checks by medical transcriptionist, language proofreader, unit-in-charge and a final check by the quality assurance team.

Will outsourcing reduce costs, thereby increasing profitability?

Outsourcing medical transcription to TransDyne will bring the cost per line of transcription down by approximately 40%, which will have an effect on the bottom-line over time. Moreover timely transcription will ensure that the account receivable cycle is shortened and quicker reimbursements can have a positive impact on the profitability.

What is the turnaround time guaranteed?

TransDyne ensures a turnaround time of 24 hours and offers a turnaround time of 4-12 hours for STAT reports. TransDyne ensures turnaround time by constantly recruiting, training and maintaining a large pool of medical transcriptionists, the use of technology and stringent processes.

Is training required to use the technology used by the medical transcription service provider?

TransDyne believes that the technology used for medical transcription like uploading dictation and downloading finished transcripts should be advanced to ensure reliability, but very easy to use requiring very less or no training.

What is the billing method used by the medical transcription service provider?

TransDyne uses a 65-character line method of billing. This follows the billing method principles as defined by MTIA. The method used is definable, verifiable, measurable, consistent and fair & honest.

Will there be additional investment?

No additional investment is required by the healthcare facility to avail medical transcription services from TransDyne.

Does the medical transcription service provider have adequate measures to ensure security of data?

TransDyne has taken all measures to ensure security of data at all levels. TransDyne has security measures like encryption of data during transmission, firewalls, and limited access to assure system security. TransDyne has physical security measures like manned security, restricted access etc to ensure security of its’ premises. The team at TransDyne has been educated on the importance of security and made to sign undertakings to make a commitment to maintaining security. TransDyne further assures total control over security by never subcontracting medical transcription work and executing all work in-house. Security measures taken by TransDyne not only meet HIPAA and HITECH guidelines but also exceed them.

Can the current modes of dictation be retained?

TransDyne believes that the time is a precious commodity for healthcare professionals, thereby current dictations can be retained. Flexible modes of dictation are offered to ensure that healthcare professionals have the options to use their time in the best possible way.

Is it possible to have a free trial of the services to test for compatibility?

TransDyne offers a free trial of services for a limited period to give healthcare facilities an opportunity to experience the excellent services offered firsthand, before making the final commitment.

How is medical transcription service provider going to deal with holiday and weekend medical transcription requirements?

TransDyne has a large team of medical transcriptionists, and will be in a position to deal with any holiday and weekend medical transcription needs that may arise.

How long has the medical transcription service provider been in this business and who are their customers?

TransDyne has been serving some of the leaders in the healthcare industry for over a decade and has the testimonials of some of their customers displayed on their website.

When a healthcare facility decides to outsource its, medical transcription needs to TransDyne it essentially gains a long-term partner that manages the current needs and is in a position to handle any additional needs that may arise out of any expansion plans that the healthcare facility may have.

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

Medical transcription: A necessity or luxury?

To assess whether medical transcription is a necessity or luxury one needs to look at the history of medical transcription and the role it plays in the provision of quality care and the profitability of a healthcare facility.

Evolution of medical transcription: Medical transcription is the process of creating records of patient-healthcare professional encounter. Creation of records of the patient encounter has been around for a long time. Over time medical transcription has evolved from its’ early stages due to the advance of technology and the Internet. The various stages of evolution that medical transcription has gone through are as follows:

• Hand written notes
• Dictation-shorthand-typing on the manual typewriter
• Dictation- recording on tapes- transcribing on manual/electronic typewriter.
• Uploading dictation on the computer system, downloading, transcribing and uploading finished files and then transmission back to the healthcare professional through the use of Internet.

Role of medical transcription: Medical transcription has always played a behind the scene role in the form of an essential support to the process of healthcare. Medical transcription plays an important role in the following:

• Recording the patient-healthcare professional encounter
• Referrals/ tests
• Statutory requirement
• Insurance re-imbursement
• Evidence in case of litigation
• As part of patient medical history.

One can see that medical transcription plays an important role in the core business of a healthcare facility and its’ profitability. It would be considered a necessary service rather than a luxury.

How can this necessary function of medical transcription be made economical and efficient?

Medical transcription can be made economical and efficient by outsourcing to a professionally managed company, which needs to be evaluated on the following:

Quality/accuracy: Quality of the transcribed document refers to the percentage of accuracy in the transcribed document viz. a viz. the audio files. Accuracy level assured by the medical transcription service provider should be as close to 100% as possible

Turnaround time: Turnaround time refers to the period between uploading the audio file to the time when the finished record is made available to the healthcare professional. A turnaround time of 24 hours with quicker turnaround time options for STAT reports would be considered reasonable.

Data security: Security of confidential patient data is an important consideration. This becomes even more critical when the data is transmitted back and forth. Any prospective medical transcription service provider needs to be critically evaluated in terms of the measures taken by them to ensure HIPAA and HITECH compliance.

Price: Cost savings per line of transcription is perhaps one of most important considerations for outsourcing medical transcription needs. The pricing provided by the medical transcription service provider needs to be reasonable and the terms of pricing should be easy to understand.

Volume flexibility: It is not possible to predict the volume of patient inflow. Therefore it is not possible to predict the volume of medical transcription work required. A medical transcription service provider needs to be evaluated on the basis of their ability to cope up with varying volumes and factors like weekend and holiday transcription requirements.

Right use of technology: Technology plays an important part in the medical transcription process. It can make the process simpler, quicker and safer by providing easy methods of capturing dictation, uploading files, downloading completed records and even for archiving of patient records. Tracing the information required can be made easier through the use of technology. The medical transcription service provider should be evaluated on the use of technology in the medical transcription process.

Billing methods: The billing method used by the medical transcription service provider can have a direct impact on the profitability of the healthcare facility. The billing method needs to explained at the beginning of the process. The billing method should be evaluated to ensure that it is, verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent and fair & honest.

Success stories: Success stories or testimonials of satisfied customers can give the added comfort to the decision making process.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry provides medical transcription solutions with the following benefits:

• TransDyne offers medical transcription with an accuracy of above 99%
• TransDyne assures a turnaround time of 24 hours with an option of 4-12 hours for STAT reports.
• TransDyne ensures security of data by securing technology, processes and people.
• TransDyne offers a reasonable and fair price by charging 10 cents per line, which is calculated by using the character line pricing method.
• TransDyne maintains a large, well-trained team of medical transcriptionists, which enables them to cope with varying volumes
• TransDyne offers medical transcription services by using the latest technology that is advanced and easy to use.
• TransDyne uses the character line billing method that is verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent and fair & honest
• TransDyne has the testimonials of their success stories available for viewing on their website.

To avail quality medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

Medical transcription outsourcing: The right solution for healthcare facilities to cope with expansion plans

In today’s world change is the one thing, which is constant. Change has never been more relevant than when it comes to healthcare. A healthcare facility has to cope up with the latest developments in healthcare, all the while stretching their budgets to the limit. The latest equipment, the latest techniques, adding on new specialties to the existing practice, all this can put a strain on limited resources.

As the scope of operations of a healthcare facility keep expanding their back office requirements like medical transcription and medical billing needs also expand accordingly. As this happens the first reaction of the healthcare facility is to add on more staff to cope up with increasing medical transcription needs or alternately outsource the overflow of transcription requirements to independent contractors or to a medical transcription service provider or a combination of all three.

This move provides a solution albeit temporarily. But as time passes there could be serious discrepancies in terms of the following:

Quality of reports: The accuracy level or the quality of the finished transcripts depends totally on the quality of people working on it. Use of varied sources to cope with medical transcription needs can dilute the quality control. This could have an impact on the quality of healthcare.

Turnaround time: Having varied turnaround time would mean that all the data needed to make an informed decision would not be available to the healthcare professional at the right time, which can affect the timeliness of the care imparted.

Cost per line of transcription: Having transcription done by various sources would mean that the cost per line of transcription would increase.

Systems/media used for transcription: The technology used for transcribing would be diverse given the different sources, all these would mean additional costs for integration with the healthcare facility systems.

Serious issues with HIPAA/HITECH compliance: HIPAA/HITECH compliance would be difficult to monitor given the numerous entities involved in the process.

Delays in processing for the accounts receivable cycle: Medical transcription is the first stage of the accounts receivable cycle; delay in medical transcription would mean delays in the rest of the reimbursement process.

Time spent coordinating various sources of medical transcription increases: Report distribution and signing of finished transcripts would be delayed due to the various sources of medical transcription work.

Manpower dealing with medical transcription providers would increase: The healthcare facility would have to appoint extra people to coordinate the varied sources of transcription to ensure a smooth workflow.

All these factors can have a serious impact on both the quality of healthcare and the bottom-line of the healthcare facility.

What is the most economical and efficient solution to cope with expanding needs of a healthcare facility?

Outsourcing medical transcription needs to TransDyne would provide a one-stop solution for all the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility no matter what their expansion plans.

How does TransDyne provide a one-stop solution to the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility?

TransDyne provides superior solutions for medical transcription needs by having:

Right people: TransDyne has a large team of well-trained medical transcriptionists in place. TransDyne believes that training should be slanted in such a way as to provide maximum expertise in minimum time. That is why medical transcriptionists in TransDyne have been trained in one or two areas of specialty making them domain experts. This means that the team at TransDyne can cope with the varying volumes of transcription without affecting the accuracy or the turnaround time.

Right process: TransDyne has the right processes in place that ensure not only quality and turnaround time but also HIPAA/HITECH compliance. All the transcription work is executed in-house by the service provider and not through sub contractors, this ensures better control over quality and safety of information. Quality of final transcripts is ensured through a four level check involving medical transcriptionist, proofreader, unit-in-charge and the quality assurance team.

Right technology: TransDyne uses the latest technology to ensure:

1. Easy upload, by allowing the healthcare professionals to retain familiar and flexible modes of dictation
2. Safety during transmission through the use of encryption, firewalls and password protected access.
3. Easy download of file to enable distribution of finished transcripts.
4. A system which ensures ease of tracking dictations, finished transcripts and archiving facilities that can be customized to the healthcare facility’s needs

By having the right people, right processes and right technology in place TransDyne offers:

• Medical transcription at the right price – at least 40% lower than current costs incurred by the healthcare facility.
• Accuracy of above 99%
• Turnaround time of 24 hours with an option of 4-12 hours for STAT reports.
• HIPAA and HITECH compliant medical transcription
• Fair billing methods to ensure that cost per line of transcription is understood clearly.
• Systems that integrate with that of the healthcare facility without any additional investment on their part.

To avail outsourced medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: Save up to 40% on costs

Outsourcing medical transcription has many benefits the most obvious being that of saving on transcription costs. While analyzing transcription costs healthcare facilities tend to overlook many important cost heads hence the comparison between the price per line given by the outsourcing company and the current cost per line is not accurate.

 

What should be included while calculating cost on medical transcription in-house?

 

Direct costs

 

Direct transcriptionist staff salaries: This comprises the salary paid to in-house transcriptionists.

 

Cost of training: The cost of training new transcriptionists to enable them to execute work as per the healthcare facility’s requirements.

 

Supplies used for transcription: The stationery cost and the cost of other supplies used for transcription would have an impact on the cost per line.

 

Cost of overflow work that is outsourced: Sometimes when the in-house transcriptionists are not able to keep up with excess workflow the work needs to be outsourced and this adds to the cost.

 

Indirect costs

 

Depreciation of transcription equipment: Over time the transcription equipment would have some wear and tear, this depreciation cost will have to be added to the cost of transcription

 

Apportioning salaries of management and administrative staff: The salaries of managerial and administrative staff contributing to the transcription process will have to be apportioned and added accordingly.

 

Benefits given to employees other than the salary: Benefits given to transcription staff like health insurance, dental care etc will have to be added in the category of indirect costs.

 

Taxes: Having transcription staff on rolls would mean taxes would have to be paid.

 

Cost of space used for in-house transcription: Apportionment of cost of real estate cost would have to be made according to the space utilization.

 

Cost of employee turnover: This would include fees paid to consultants, signing bonuses, cost of training new employees and the cost of advertising for new employees.

 

Cost of technology: The cost of technology used for medical transcription and the cost of integrating this with the hospital’s system needs to be added.

 

Apart from the direct and indirect costs of medical transcription in-house the other factors that need to considered are:

• No of days taken for transcription
• Quality of reports
• Physician satisfaction
• HIPAA/HITECH compliance
• Report generation and distribution
• Easy availability of qualified staff for transcription

 Given below is a table of typical expenses of transcription in-house:

 

Item             Cost in US $ per annum

 

Salary                  30000
Benefits                 8000
Real estate            2000
Furniture               1000
Computer             2000
Management         5000
Consumables        1000
Utilities                   500
Miscellaneous        500
Total cost          50000

 

Given below is the productivity of a medical transcriptionist

 

Production

 

Number of lines per 8 hour day                      1250
Work hours per year                                     1920
Lines per year                                            300000
Downtime in %                                                  10
Actual lines produced in a year                   270000
Cost per line                                                      18.5 cents

 

After calculating the costs of all these factors one can arrive at the cost per line of transcription.

TransDyne offers medical transcription at the rate of 10 cents per 65-character line. This shows a clear saving in the cost per line of transcription. The 65-character line is calculated according to the billing method principles as per the MTIA guidelines. The method of billing used is verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent and fair & honest.

Not only that outsourcing the medical transcription needs of a healthcare facility to TransDyne has benefits like:

 

• Accuracy of 99% and above
• 24 hours turnaround time, with an option of 4-12 hours turnaround time for STAT reports.
• Software that enables smart upload by allowing flexible modes of dictation and features like smart delivery and web delivery for ease of use.
• Ensures HIPAA and HITECH compliance by using the right technology and having safety measures in place for security of people and infrastructure.
• TransDyne ensures that the healthcare facility’s variable needs are met without affecting the cost per line, by having a large pool of well-trained medical transcriptionists available at all times.
• TransDyne ensures that the quality standards are constantly maintained by having quality guidelines in place.
• TransDyne ensures HIPAA/HITECH compliance by always executing the medical transcription work in-house rather than through subcontractors.

To avail TransDyne’s superior medical transcription services, click here.

 

Medical transcription outsourcing: Process for choosing the right service provider

Outsourcing medical transcription is a critical decision. By outsourcing its medical transcription needs a healthcare facility is essentially adding to the back office support of their facility. A medical transcription service provider is a long-term business associate of the healthcare facility.

The process of picking the right associate needs a well thought out strategy. Breaking it into two stages can help refine the process of selection:

• Qualification stage
• Proposal stage

Qualification stage is an elimination round where the medical transcription service provider will be judged on the following criteria:

Can the medical transcription service provider prove HIPAA/HITECH compliance?

HIPAA/HITECH compliance is an important criterion to be considered as medical transcription involves transmission of data back and forth through electronic channels. Security measures for ensuring confidentiality of patient information needs to be addressed at 3 levels:

1.Technology: HIPAA/HITECH compliance in technology can be ensured by transmission of data through encrypted channels, firewall protection etc.

2.Process: HIPAA/HITECH compliance in process can be ensured by making sure that 100% of the work is carried out in company’s own premises and not through sub-contractors. Further security measures could include surveillance cameras and security at entry and exit points.

3.People: HIPAA/HITECH compliance among people could be ensured by educating them on the importance of HIPAA/HITECH and having them sign a commitment regarding the same.

Can the medical transcription service provider’s system be made compatible with the healthcare facility’s systems?

Outsourcing of medical transcription needs should not require any further investment by the healthcare facility. Features like HL7 interface to enable interface between various systems could be used as a criterion to evaluate the medical transcription service provider.

Can healthcare professionals retain their current modes of dictation?
Healthcare professionals have limited time and a service provider that lets them retain their current modes of dictation will be one of the qualifying features.

Once the medical transcription service provider has qualified on these criteria they need to be evaluated on the following, which will form part of the proposal:

What is the cost per line?

Cost savings is one of the main benefits that a healthcare facility hopes to have from the outsourcing decision. The cost per line of needs to be fair and reasonable to the services rendered, without any hidden costs.

What are the billing methods used?

The method of billing used by the service provider has a direct effect on the bottom line of the healthcare facility. The billing method used has to be according to the MTIA guidelines of being verifiable, definable, measurable, consistent, fair and honest.

What is the guaranteed turnaround time?

Timely transcripts add to the quality of healthcare provided. A reasonable turnaround time needs to be specified along with options for STAT reports.

What is the accuracy level promised?

The accuracy of the finished transcript as against the audio file needs to be as close to 100% as possible so that accurate information is documented. The accuracy level specified by the medical transcription service provider is an important criterion for the final decision-making.

Can the medical transcription service provider provide references?

References/ testimonials are the success stories of those who have already availed the services of the service provider. Having testimonials gives an added assurance that the service provider can meet all the challenges.

Is there a free trial period to test the services?

Free trial of the services provide a test run that gives the healthcare facility an idea as what to expect and helps make the right decision.

What is the type of contract used?

The type of contract used by the medical transcription service provider gives an idea about the commitment needed from both the parties and whether the service provider is willing to make changes in the contract if needed.

• TransDyne, is a professionally managed transcription company, which qualifies on all the criteria like being HIPAA and HITECH compliant in technology, processes and people, having technology that is compatible with that of the healthcare facility and the flexibility for healthcare professionals to retain their current modes of dictation.

• TransDyne offers medical transcription at the rate of 10 cents per line, uses a billing method based on a 65-character line, assures a turnaround time of 24 hours with an option of 4-12 hours for STAT reports, assures an accuracy level of above 99%.

• TransDyne can provide testimonials of its’ success stories, offers a free trial period for evaluating their services, and a standard business agreement that can be modified as per the healthcare facility’s requirements.

To avail medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here

Outsourced medical transcription can help increase productivity

How does outsourced medical transcription help healthcare professionals increase productivity?

 

By leaving healthcare professionals with more time to focus on providing quality healthcare. That is a very simple answer and does not really highlight the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription. Let us examine in detail how outsourced medical transcription enhances a healthcare professional’s productivity

• By providing a highly skilled team of medical transcriptionists: By outsourcing the medical transcription function, a healthcare professional essentially gains in terms of a huge team of well-trained and professional medical transcriptionists who can ensure that the patient-healthcare professional encounter is documented accurately and the finished transcripts are available in a timely manner. This ensures that healthcare professionals can focus on their work and enhance productivity rather than waste time checking the accuracy level of transcripts. Having accurate information available on time helps quicken the healthcare process.

• By using technology which is reliable and secure: By using technology that is reliable and secure, the medical transcription service provider can provide three pronged benefits:

1. Capital saved on technology investments
2. Assured turnaround time, reducing the need for constant follow-up
3. Security of data during transmission is ensured

• By quickening the accounts receivable cycle: Medical transcription is the first stage of the accounts receivables cycle. By outsourcing medical transcription the healthcare facility can be assured that the first stage of the accounts receivable cycle is cleared in a timely manner

• By letting healthcare professionals use familiar modes of dictation: Outsourcing to a medical transcription service provider that lets the doctors use familiar methods of dictation would ensure that doctors can utilize their time in the best way possible, thereby increasing productivity.

It can be seen that medical transcription service providers do not just document the patient –doctor encounter, they free up valuable resources like time, money, manpower and technology by providing an important and value added service. Choosing the right medical transcription service provider can really improve the productivity of a healthcare professional and increase the profitability of the healthcare facility.

 

Apart from increasing the productivity of healthcare professional, outsourcing medical transcription has added benefits like:

• Reduction in the cost per line of transcription
• Cost of transcription is limited to cost per line and not for idle capacity during slow periods.
• Holiday and weekend transcription needs are met without any added expenses.
• Outsourcing medical transcription leaves the healthcare facility administration free to concentrate on the core business.
• Savings on real estate costs that is allocated for the in-house transcription staff.
• Reduction in information technology costs
• Reduction in management expenses towards medical transcription
• Centralized information flow
• One stop solution for all medical transcription needs

Medical transcription is an important cog in the machinery of healthcare services. By outsourcing medical transcription needs a healthcare facility can avail of this vital service at economical rates, with added benefits of assured turnaround time, advanced technology and services that are HIPAA and HITECH compliant.

 

TransDyne offers quality 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 avail professional medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here. 

Medical transcription outsourcing: Helps unleash core business potential

Providing quality healthcare and making a profit while doing so are the goals of a healthcare facility. Outsourcing medical transcription can help achieve both the goals.

How does outsourcing medical transcription help in the provision of quality healthcare?

By creating accurate records: The continued quality of healthcare depends on availability of accurate information. Outsourcing of medical transcription ensures that medical records are transcribed by experienced and expert medical transcriptionists ensuring maximum accuracy.

By creating timely records: Timely records are vital for providing quality healthcare, by outsourcing the medical transcription function a healthcare facility can be ensured that transcription would be timely because of a availability of a large pool of qualified personnel at all times. The turnaround time of the finished transcripts are ensured by use of technology which has features that provides the convenience of using flexible modes of dictation, easy upload of audio files, easy download of finished transcripts.

How does outsourcing medical transcription help in profitability?

By creating records at reasonable price: The cost per line of medical transcription can be cut down dramatically by outsourcing to a professionally managed medical transcription service provider. The healthcare facility can benefit from the economies of scale of the medical transcription company. The billing method used by the medical transcription service provider also has bearing on the cost per line of transcription and this in turn affects profitability.

By cutting down associated costs: Outsourcing of medical transcription would also have enormous cost saving benefits like, managerial expenses, real estate costs, cost of utilities, cost of information technology, capital investment in medical transcription equipment among many other expenses, to the healthcare facility. One of the main benefits of outsourcing medical transcription is that it accelerates the receivables cycle. This ensures that the process of reimbursement is quickened leading to profitability

By creating records through secure channels: Choosing a HIPAA and HITECH compliant medical transcription service provider for outsourcing medical transcription needs that healthcare facility would be able to protect itself against any litigation arising out of potential data security breaches. This could mean a huge potential saving for the healthcare facility

One can see that choosing a professionally managed medical transcription service provider as a long-term partner for creation of medical records, can have an impact on the bottom line of the healthcare facility. It is vital that the process of selection should include a company, which is able to provide all these benefits.

TransDyne offers quality medical transcription with an accuracy level of above 99%. Accuracy levels are achieved by training medical transcriptionist in specific areas of medicine making them domain experts and having a four level quality check to eliminate errors.

TransDyne offers medical transcription at reasonable prices by using a fair and reasonable method, achieving and passing on the benefits of economies of scale, and executing all medical transcription work in-house.

TransDyne offers quick turnaround time for medical transcription work by use of the right technology and well-trained medical transcriptionists.

TransDyne provides for HIPAA and HITECH compliant medical transcriptonby securing technology, processes and people, ensuring maximum confidentiality.

 

To avail the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription needs to TransDyne, click here.

Medical transcription outsourcing: How important is turnaround time guarantee?

Turnaround time guarantee given by the medical transcription service provider plays an important role in the service provider selection process.

Why is turnaround time guarantee a deciding factor?

To answer this question, one needs to examine the importance of medical transcription and the part it plays in the provision of quality healthcare. Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. These records then serve as the foundation for providing healthcare, for referring to specialists, as evidence in case of litigation and form the basis for billing.

One can see that the quality of healthcare hinges on the availability of accurate and timely information, therefore turnaround time for medical transcription is very important for a healthcare facility.

What is turnaround time?

Turnaround time is the time between the audio files is uploaded to the time when the final transcript is made available to the healthcare professional. Ideal turnaround time would depend on the type of report. For most reports a turnaround time of 24 hours would be considered ideal, but STAT reports would require a turnaround time of 4-12 hours.

How can a healthcare facility be ensured that the committed turnaround time would be met?

This would require the healthcare facility to have a careful screening process of various medical transcription service providers. To ensure that a service provider would stand by their guarantee they need to be evaluated on the following:

Technology used: The technology used by the medical transcription service provider will have a direct impact on the turnaround time.

Training methods used: A team of well-trained medical transcriptionists would ensure that the turnaround time guaranteed by the medical transcription service provider would be met without any compromise to quality.

Quality assurance methods used: The methods used to ensure quality would not only ensure accuracy but also save a lot of time in correction of errors, thereby fine-tuning the turnaround time.

In-house transcription: Transcription done in-house and not through sub-contractors would cut down on guarantee turnaround time by avoiding dilution of control over the process of transcription.

TransDyne stands head and shoulder above the others in terms of not only quality/accuracy of transcripts, fair pricing, data security but also in terms of turnaround time guarantee.

How does TransDyne guarantee turnaround time?

TransDyne uses the right technology: TransDyne adopts the best technology like Smart upload, Smart Delivery, and web delivery to ensure that the turnaround time is met.

TransDyne has refined its’ training methods: TransDyne has taken training of its’ medical transcriptionists to the next level by training them in one or two areas of medicine to make them domain specialists. This ensures that the turnaround time is met with from the very beginning.

TransDyne has a four level quality check: TransDyne has a stringent quality control method in place involving medical transcriptionist, proofreader, unit-incharge and quality assurance team to ensure quality issues are solved on time and not affect turnaround time.

TransDyne does not use sub-contractors: TransDyne believes in executing all the work in-house thereby saving on time and at the same time ensuring accuracy and data security.

To avail speedy and prompt medical transcription services from TransDyne, click here.