The Medical Transcription Education Center (M-TEC), a highly-respected and ACCP-approved online medical transcription training program, is concluding National Medical Transcriptionist Week by announcing recent student successes and program accomplishments.
Since its introduction, over 500 medical transcriptionists (MTs) have completed M-TEC’s CMT-RMT Review webinar series. Overall, nearly 2,500 MTs have graduated from M-TEC and now serve as [...]
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admin on August 31st, 2010
Key step in national initiative toward adoption of electronic health records
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago, Ill. and the Drummond Group Inc. (DGI), Austin, Texas, were named today by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as the first technology review bodies that have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record (EHR) systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.
Announcement of these ONC-Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ONC-ATCBs) means that EHR vendors can now begin to have their products certified as meeting criteria to support meaningful use, a key step in the national initiative to encourage adoption and effective use of EHRs by America’s health care providers.
“Less than two months following the issuance of final meaningful use rules, we have approved our initial ONC-ATCB certifiers. EHR vendors can begin immediately to get their products certified.” said David Blumenthal, M.D., national coordinator for Health Information Technology. This is a crucial step because it ensures that certified EHR products will be available to support the achievement of the required meaningful use objectives, that these products will be aligned with one another on key standards, and that doctors and hospitals can invest with confidence in these certified systems.”
Applications for additional ONC-ATCBs are also under review.
Certification of EHRs is part of a broad initiative undertaken by Congress and President Obama under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. HITECH created new incentive payment programs to help health providers as they transition from paper-based medical records to EHRs. Incentive payments totaling as much as $27 billion may be made under the program. Individual physicians and other eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 through Medicare and almost $64,000 through Medicaid. Hospitals can receive millions.
To qualify for the incentive payments, providers must not only adopt, but also demonstrate meaningful use of, certified EHR systems. The law envisions that defined meaningful use requirements will help ensure that the patient and provider benefits of EHRs are realized. Initial meaningful use criteria were defined in a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 28.
In addition to the CMS rule, ONC also issued standards and certification criteria for EHRs on July 28, aimed at ensuring that EHR systems will support the specific tasks required under meaningful use. Also, through regulations issued on June 24, ONC created a system by which technology review organizations could also qualify as ONC- ATCBs that will certify EHR products as meeting the requirements necessary for meaningful use.
With the initial two ONC-ATCBs now named, EHR vendors can apply to them for certification of their products. By purchasing certified products, providers will have assurance that the products will support achievement of the meaningful use objectives.
“Multiple steps are underway to carry out the intent of Congress in supporting rapid and effective adoption of EHRs throughout our health care system,” Dr. Blumenthal said. “The naming of initial ONC-ATCBs is one important step. Actual certification of multiple vendors’ systems by the ONC-ATCBs is an important next step. CMS is also working to create an online system for providers to register and attest for the EHR incentive programs. The first incentive payments are targeted to be made in May 2011. Meanwhile, ONC is also carrying out new programs of technical assistance and training, especially for smaller hospitals and physician practices.”
Dr. Blumenthal said the Health IT initiative “is on an aggressive schedule to meet the urgent targets set by Congress and the President toward realizing the quality and safety improvements that we can achieve through health information technology.”
To learn more about the ONC-ATCBs named today visit www.cchit.org and www.drummondgroup.com.
For more information about the ONC certification programs visit http://healthit.hhs.gov/certification.
For more information about other HHS Recovery Act Health Information Technology funding and programs, visit http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/index.html#Health.
This news is published on : http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/08/20100830d.html
admin on August 26th, 2010
Providing innovative solutions for EHR adoption that facilitate accurate and timely capture of health information continues to be a key message for the Medical Transcription Industry Association, whose members recently voted to change its name to Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA) in an effort to reflect not only the expanded scope of services its members provide to the healthcare industry, but also a more appropriate focus on the health record and its critical role in clinical decision-making and continuity of care. CDIA (formerly MTIA) is the world’s largest association representing the needs of medical transcription and speech recognition companies, vendors, and health information management professionals since 1989.
“We are thrilled that our members recognized the need to rename the association at a time when it is critical that the organization truly reflect our marketplace realities,” CDIA Board Chair, Eileen Dwyer said. “Our new name acknowledges the expanded focus we will have on providing advocacy, education, and outreach on behalf of business owners dedicated to providing quality outsourced health information management services to the healthcare delivery system.”
Under its new name, the association will continue to promote the value of clinical narrative in capturing information-rich health stories that can be tagged and repurposed to meet criteria for use and distribution in the EHR. Over the remainder of 2010, the association will be transitioning to meet branding and administrative requirements that reflect the association’s new name and expanded presence in the healthcare marketplace.
Source : http://emrdailynews.com/2010/08/18/medical-transcription-industry-association-to-change-name-to-clinical-documentation-industry-association/
admin on August 17th, 2010
Medical Transcription (MT), business services to healthcare in developed countries like the United States and United Kingdom, where the precious documents daily collection of patient data is difficult, with significant increase in the number of patients. The outsourcing of these services to offshore locations like India helps companies care for a huge savings of time and money. The process is also of great utility for individual physicians and doctors, their own clinicaland health care centers.
Require hospitals and private medical records of patients who have carefully transcribed, including the method of treatment and, in time to allow for proper operation. These records are also important for patients who have completed their insurance claims processed more quickly. For physicians and doctors, maintaining their structures of transcription at home is proving to be an expensive option, since large investments for the purchase of copying must be doneEquipment and staff training.
As Asian countries like India and the Philippines, a number of graduates who are fluent in written and oral American English, have medical transcription jobs in these countries, broad-based will be assigned. The 24 hours time difference is also an advantage for healthcare organizations that entrust their jobs to these countries.
The quality of medical transcription services provided is also much higher in these outsourcing companies. MostOffshore medical transcription companies to offer intensive training for their employees using the in-house doctors and specialists in language. Accuracy in medical records is a top priority, these companies care. In order to ensure a high degree of accuracy, most companies have experienced reviewers and editors who can double the processed data set used by mistake. The combined efforts of the entire team to keep a record of almost 99% are correct, such as health –Industry.
Most medical transcription companies offer their services for the long term and short-term needs of the health sector. These companies have the necessary guarantees for the personnel and facilities, so that customer records can be processed in time.
Thus, without the investment required and do not provide future services for the modernization, these jobs outsourced medical transcription to ensure benefits for health professionals. The most important of all benefitsthat focus more on personal care and worry less to maintain patient data.
Source : http://cliniccenter.myblogtrade.com/2010/02/09/medical-transcription-for-doctors-and-medical/
admin on August 9th, 2010
The Medical Transcription industry has been evolving for years and is today a respectable profession that pays well and professional medical transcriptionists (MT) get all the required support from various medical transcription industry organizations. With the rapid growth expected for the entire health care sector there has been a spurt in the growth of transcription companies at all levels world wide. In the US on March 7, 2006, the Medical transcription occupation became eligible for the U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship.
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) was formerly known by the name of the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) and was established in the year 1978. It was formed to obtain recognition and contribute towards patient safety and more accurate medical records. The AHDI is an organization that the MTs join for validation and protection. The association also offers many resources that are of use to those in the MT industry and it takes pride in following the latest and modern trends. What are the types of services offered by AHDI? Well the primary services are concerned with,
Giving of advice
Networking
Job opportunities
Today, advances in digital technology has made it possible for many medical transcriptionists to work more efficiently and comfortably even from the privacy of their homes.
One other organization that promotes the MT industry is the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA). MTIA is a non-profit trade association that represents the companies, vendors, and health professionals. Working alongside AHDI, the association has greatly helped to improve the medical transcription industry and maintain health records world wide. MTIA services include,
Access to thousands of vendor suppliers through a transcription service finder
Sponsors events and conferences annually
Networking through its website.
Provides cutting edge technology know-how to MTs .
Source : http://maryanngarth.easyworldwidemall.com/2010/05/29/the-medical-transcription-industry-organizations/
admin on July 23rd, 2010
Medicines and drugs are an integral part of mainstream western allopathic medicines that are consumed around the world. A medical transcription professional who daily transcribes the dictations by the physicians or any specialist doctors will often come across prescription of drugs both old and new. A medical transcriptionist has to be aware of the latest drugs introduced in the concerned market and this can be done with the following pharmacology (drug) reference books which should always be a part of his library.
Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR)
American Drug Index (ADI)
Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book
Understanding Pharmacology
Whenever a transcriptionist comes across a new drug name he must know how to search for it and become familiar with the drugs, their indications and dosages. Being up to date can save a lot of search time. Remember, good productivity in transcription is a critical factor as payment is usually made on a per line basis.
While a drug’s trade name or brand name is selected for its appeal to prescribing physicians, the generic drug can have several trade names, each copyrighted by different manufacturers. While transcribing drug names these are some of the main factors that should be kept in mind by the transcriptionist.
Generic names are in lower case
Trade names start in capitals and can have internal caps as well
PDR (Physicians’ Desk Reference) is for prescribed drugs
Separate publication for non prescribed drugs
Drugs can sound similar but be totally different in spelling and usage
Do not capitalize words like tablet / capsule / solution / cream etc
One of the biggest challenges medical transcriptionists often come across is when listening to tapes that may not be very clear in the dictation. It can be confusing when there are two drugs that are spelled differently but sound very much alike. These two drugs could be for completely different uses and the transcription professional has to be very alert to all such names.
Source : http://maryanngarth.easyworldwidemall.com/2010/05/22/medical-transcription-and-drug-reference/
admin on July 14th, 2010
Medical transcription technology has been fast evolving according to the needs of the times. The US healthcare system demands that all medical transactions be on record. Thus today we have medical transcription dictations that are even given over the telephone. To make the whole process easier physicians and doctors can now just dial in using a telephone and a PIN number anytime of the day or night and dictate for a transcript.
Most of the renowned transcription service providers usually have work units both domestically within the US and also in Asian locations like India or the Philippines. Thus they are able to be very flexible with regards to the turnaround time, pricing etc. Transcripts can be got even within a few hours if required. As all data sent over the Internet is always encrypted (using 256-bit encryption) there is total security and safety for all client files / information.
There are a few challenges in Medical dictation transcription and certain rules that all physicians have to follow if they are to get transcripts with over 99% accuracy. These are some of the points.
- Be aware of the background sounds/ noise
- Mention title of the document at the outset itself
- Do not forget to dictate basic demographic information
- Difficult medical terms should be pronounced well
- Avoid summarizing in long sentences
- Please expand uncommon abbreviations
- Avoid eating/ drinking/ coughing near microphone/ while dictating
Besides dictation on the phone there is a wide range other dictation equipment available that include desk top stations and various hand held digital dictation units. Thus recordings can be also transferred to the computer and transmitted as audio files for transcription. Dictation equipment accessories include devices like microphones and hands free kits.
Source:http://maryanngarth.easyworldwidemall.com/2010/04/10/medical-dictation-transcription/
admin on July 8th, 2010
A key factor that persuades developed economies such as the US to outsource their medical transcription jobs to developing countries such as India and the Philippines is the availability of cheap and qualified labor in these countries
Medical transcription is one of the most widely outsourced jobs in the healthcare industry and is adopted as a part of easing the tedious process of medical records documentation. Processing of medical transcription jobs in-house means medical care providers have to invest a lot in terms of time and money for selecting and training the right manpower, apart from installing and maintaining costly infrastructure such as dictation equipments and computers. To keep operating costs low, outsourcing of medical transcription is the preferred choice for most healthcare firms operating in the US and UK.
A key factor that persuades developed economies such as the US to outsource their medical transcription jobs to developing countries such as India and the Philippines is the availability of cheap and qualified labor in these countries. The medical transcription firms in these countries have better infrastructures with backups for labor and internet and are thus capable of providing round-the-clock uninterrupted transcription services. The skills of medical transcriptionists in these countries include a better understanding of the spoken English language. The majority of these professionals have excellent academic qualifications and in-depth awareness of the subject.
Another major benefit of outsourcing these medical transcription jobs is that backup copies of patient records are always available at the servers of these outsourcing companies and hence it is easier to search and access patient records which are years old. Moreover, these documents can be sent across multiple destinations through the internet so that doctors, regardless of their location can keep in touch with their patients and their medical treatments.
Source: http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/BPO/Industry-specific-Processes/Medical-Transcription-Outsourcing-Benefits/23/29/0/GS100615518457
admin on July 2nd, 2010
In today’s business world, the demands for medical transcription services are increasing at a rapid rate. It is basically the process of transcribing the dictated medical recording made by physicians and other healthcare professionals into soft copy format. Today there are a wide range of medical transcription services that encompass almost most of the different specialties in medicine.
As the health care industry grows, one finds that the number of companies that are specializing in providing MT services is growing by the day as these services are provided to a wide range of practices and organizations that can include healthcare facilities, hospitals, laboratories, clinics, individual doctors and physicians’ groups. Because of the development of ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services), many of the medical transcription companies are outsourcing their jobs to offshore centers located in India and the Philippines.
In order to provide reliable and error free documents to the clients, the companies have to appoint technically trained medical language specialists who have an in-depth knowledge of all the medical terminologies. How else will someone understand the technical dictations of the physician, surgeon or an anesthesiologist? Specialized professional medical transcriptionists help in transcribing patients’ physical reports, clinical notes, operative reports, consultation notes, autopsy reports, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports, X-ray reports, referral letters, and discharge summaries.
Medical transcription outsourcing units provide specialty services such as:
- Cardiology Transcription
- Emergency Room Transcription
- Radiology Transcription
- Gastroenterology Transcription
- Surgery Transcription
- Chiropractic Transcription
- Internal Medicine Transcription
- Physical Medicine Transcription
- Maxillofacial Surgery Transcription
- Plastic Surgery Transcription
- General Surgery Transcription
For detailing, the MT companies support toll free numbers, digital recorders, and computer dictation systems and almost all the other necessary medical transcription devices. Depending on the client’s needs and document management systems, the medical reports are delivered in the appropriate data/ file format. Medical transcription services can consistently give you the combined unique experience of 99% accuracy, data security, and absolute privacy for your records and documents. Medical transcription industry strives to support all professionals and also ensure that all services are HIPAA compliant besides secured with 256 bit AES encryption.
Source:http://maryanngarth.easyworldwidemall.com/2010/05/30/medical-transcription-services/
admin on June 21st, 2010
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) have combined to create the Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector.
The manual will help health care documentation and medical transcription businesses and professionals to adopt policies and procedures for complying with HIPAA privacy and security laws and operating in a manner consistent with best ethical practices related to transcription billing, compensation, and outsourcing. The manual is part of the associations’ ongoing commitment to safeguarding protected health information and upholding the integrity of the profession and industry.
“With the emerging demand from healthcare delivery for increased standardization and greater specificity around exchange of health information, the time is ripe for the healthcare documentation sector to look closely at its compliance practices to ensure that the sector is best positioned to respond to the future needs of health care,” stated AHDI/MTIA CEO Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE. “We want to be a resource for business owners and healthcare documentation professionals in developing policies, procedures, and contracts that reflect high-integrity business practices and promote transparency around key issues that reflect well on the industry as a whole.”
The associations convened an advisory council composed of industry content and practice experts including transcription professionals, managers, quality assurance coordinators, educators, and medical transcription service owners and executives to provide input regarding areas that could benefit from the creation of ethical best practices and to assist in content development for the manual. Council participants recognize that a set of ethical best practices is a necessity at this time of greater regulation, scrutiny, and enforcement by the federal government.
“The medical transcription/healthcare documentation industry is entering a new age of regulation with the increased emphasis on data privacy and security by consumers, the healthcare industry and the government combined with the trend towards increased governmental scrutiny of healthcare vendors,” added Scott Edelstein, Esq., a partner in the health law practice of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP.
Source: http://health-information.advanceweb.com/News/Industry-Buzz/AHDI-MTIA-Combine-to-Create-Compliance-and-Transparency-Manual.aspx
