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/
