Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Medical transcription outsourcing: Selection process for choosing the right service provider

The recent reforms proposed for healthcare are aimed towards the creation of an US-based health information network with the expectation that adoption of EMR/ EHR and investment in newer technology will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy and save lives. As the healthcare sector is preparing to move towards the attainment of this goal one of the key factors for the success of this that emerges, is the need for clear and secure information sharing among all the stakeholders involved in the healthcare process.

As medical transcription has always played a key role in the healthcare documentation process and is a method of documenting the care process most suited to the healthcare professionals’ workflow; it becomes important to capitalize on the skilled personnel, vast experience, expertise and the technology offered by the transcription sector in making the move towards adoption of EMR/ EHR.

However as the role of medical transcription is transitioning from that of being a mere documentation support to a being an agent for easy and economic adoption of EMR/ EHR without disrupting the vital patient–healthcare professional interaction, the selection process for choosing the right medical transcription company also needs to change.

Apart from the usual criteria of accuracy, speed, security and lower costs medical transcription companies need to be evaluated on a whole new host of criteria, which include:

Structured dictation: This method of dictation necessitates healthcare professionals to follow a structure pattern of dictation. It is important to evaluate the capability of the medical transcription company to support structured dictation modes This allows the medical transcription companies to create reports with all the relevant data in a certain format while still retaining the entire patient story.

Structured transcription: This method focuses on standardizing the report format based on various aspects of the specialty and other factors. Medical transcription companies need to be able to provide structured transcription by training their medical transcriptionists in one or two specialties making them domain experts. Structured transcription also enables easier adoption of EMR/ EHR using HL7 interface while retaining the option to retain dictation as a mode of data collection.

Discrete reportable transcription: Discrete reportable transcription can be defined as a unique approach to adoption of EMR/ EHR, which continues to use the traditional method of transcription to create transcripts while instantly populating the EMR/ EHR with discrete data elements. Under this method once the healthcare professional has finished dictating his/her notes, transcripts are created through the usual transcription process using expert medical transcriptionists who ensure accuracy and speed.  After transcription, the transcription software automatically tags the discrete data within the document, such as lab values and medications into the appropriate fields in the EMR/ EHR, using XML coding.

Back end speech recognition software: Outsourced medical transcription service providers can aid in the process of speech recognition software transcription by providing editing and proof reading services for the transcripts produced by speech recognition software to bring the accuracy levels to acceptable and usable levels. The capability of the medical transcription company needs to be evaluated in this regard. This enables the healthcare professionals to concentrate on their core activity of providing care.

It can be concluded that medical transcription companies provide structured support for transcription needs that not only meet the changing needs of the current scenario but also help healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities save on cost.

TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry has used their extensive background in information technology and their experience in serving the needs of the healthcare sector to provide affordable and integrated medical transcription solutions.

Among the software and tools offered by TransDyne for transcription, the smart delivery system has a large role to play in easing the path to EMR/EHR adoption The Smart Delivery system, which has features like User defined folder paths to enable easy imports to EMR systems is the suggested mode of document delivery where pre-defined file saving would help import documents to EMR systems.  Apart from this TransDyne also offers discounted rates for those healthcare facilities that provide demographic data entered in the EMR rather than through other modes.

Along with medical transcription services involving multiple level quality checks to ensure accuracy, the use of the right technology for ease of use, turnaround time and security, at reasonable rates, TransDyne also provides discrete reportable transcription for adoption of EMR/ EHR 

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

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