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 [...]
Read the rest...
admin on June 15th, 2010
MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) along with AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) recommends a standard unit of measure for medical transcription of patient medical records. It recommends the visible black character (VBC) measurement standard to be the best document counting method. What was the purpose of having such a standard?
The final goal was to implement a standard for content measurement that the health information management (HIM) practitioners can use to evaluate in-house transcription staff and external transcription service suppliers. The earlier 65-character line standard (also called as the AAMT line) had previously been a standard industry wide unit of measure for content measurement that includes space bar, shift key, bold, underscore, and other keystrokes. With this system the cost for the line/character goes beyond just labor as the cost of the technology is bundled along with domain knowledge and human resources. Thus it became mandatory to develop/choose the best possible Industry standard. The benefits of having such a standard include ease in maintaining service level agreements, better business relationships and having a better tool for evaluation.
According to The MTIA /AHIMA task force among all the different counting methods like ASCII line, the 65-character line, gross line, gross page, per minute pricing, and visible black character (VBC) measurement standards, VBC is the only counting method that can be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all parties in the medical transcription business processes.
Whenever a transcription document is reviewed for quality what are the principles that establish the quality of the documents?
The transcribed report should be reviewed against the actual dictation. Reading the report without listening to the dictation does not provide an accurate comparison of the transcription to the dictation.
The review should apply industry-specific standards as provided by current resources and references. When evaluating style, punctuation, or grammar, The AAMT Book of Style is the industry standard.
The review should encompass attention to risk management issues and the documentation standards of accreditation and healthcare compliance agencies.
Accuracy scores (ratings) should be quantified with the use of a numeric calculation that weights varying degrees of error against the length of the report. AAMT recommends the following quality goals: 100% accuracy with respect to critical errors; 98% accuracy with respect to major errors; and 98% accuracy with respect to all errors in the report, including minor errors (see below for definitions of “critical,” “major,” and “minor” errors).
The reviewer (or the review process) should provide timely and consistent feedback to the medical transcriptionist in order to eliminate repetition of errors.
All measurements, standards, and benchmarks should be disclosed to the medical transcriptionist and should be set forth in written guidelines by the healthcare provider or transcription service.
Source:http://maryanngarth.easyworldwidemall.com/2010/06/02/medical-transcription-standard/
admin on June 8th, 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 June 1st, 2010
By, Lea M. Sims
With our nation engaged in dialogue around health care reform, and health care delivery engaged in discussions around what “meaningful use” of EHRs will look like, there has never been a more important time for the health care documentation sector to stand up and demonstrate its contributory value to these critical issues. This means aligning our key messages with health care’s goals and demonstrating why we matter to the health data capture process, both now and in the evolving EHR.
What is health care delivery telling us?
More than anything, health care needs cost-effective, technology-centric solutions that ensure quality of care, eliminate redundancy and inefficiency, and improve the quality and accessibility of patient information within and between health care enterprises. When it comes to our sector, the health care system is looking for the right solutions to securely and accurately capture, consume and repurpose health information. It needs partners and advocates who will advance its EHR adoption goals, facilitate reliable data exchange, and deliver robust health encounter information that allows providers to make real-time clinical decisions. And out of the evolving debate around “meaningful use,” a new concern is also emerging-How much of the EHR documentation burden should be shouldered by the physician?
How can our sector respond to those challenges?
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the Medical Transcription Industry Association have been delivering a core message to legislators, policymakers and health care stakeholders around the ability of the health care documentation sector to meet these evolving needs for managing health information. Our key messages around EHR adoption have focused on the following points:
1. Preservation of narrative capture is critical to meaningful use of EHRs because:
- More than 1.2 billion clinical records are produced in the U.S. every year.
- 60 percent of all clinical records are documented via traditional dictation/transcription.
- No documentation method captures complex patient stories better than narrative dictation.
- Dictation/transcription is still the preferred method among U.S. physicians for documenting patient encounters.
- Point-and-click templates cannot adequately capture a comprehensive, complete patient story.
- Physician-driven data entry is costing health care time and money; physicians are better deployed in frontline care than burdened with clerical capture.
2. Health care documentation specialists are critical to effective capture of health information because we:
- Understand the diagnostic process and the complex story-telling of patient care.
- Provide risk management support and oversight to ensure health encounters are captured accurately.
- Are able to indentify error/inconsistency in the record as well as support pay-for-performance goals through documentation improvement measures.
- Know how to apply data capture standards that ensure health information is available at point of care for clinical decision-making.
- Integrate seamlessly with data capture technologies, such as EHRs and speech recognition technology (SRT) solutions.
- Partner with physicians to document care encounters in a way that frees up providers for hands-on patient care.
How can you promote this campaign in 2010?
Be an advocate. First and foremost, our sector needs you to promote the concepts above to your providers, clients, health care facilities and legislators. Be proactive in advocating for your current and future value in advancing health care’s goals for EHR adoption. Download the MT Week flyer/poster-Capturing America’s Healthcare Story: Why We Matter to Health Care-at www.ahdionline.org and share it with your professional contacts.
Be ready to deliver. The value proposition we’re making to health care is predicated on the assumption that our workforce can facilitate EHR adoption by being an extra set of eyes on the health record, well-oriented to the diagnostic process, and capable of recognizing error and inconsistency in health information. This will require MTs to embrace professional development, continuing education and credentialing. Position yourself well for evolving and future roles by seeking additional training in new roles/technologies (receive $100 off the cost of our SRT training course if you register in the months of April/May for May/June courses), obtaining your certified medical transcription (CMT) or registered medical transcription (RMT) credential, becoming an AHDI member to stay in the stream of cutting-edge information, and embracing long-term continuing education.
Above article publish on http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Columns/AHDI-Track/Why-We-Matter-to-Health-Care.aspx
admin on May 21st, 2010
By Maureen McKinney
Using bar-code verification technology for medication administration can significantly reduce error rates and decrease the likelihood of adverse events, according to a newly published study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, examined data from several units in the hospital as they rolled out a staggered implementation of an electronic medication administration record, or eMAR, with bar-coding technology. The use of a bar-code eMAR was associated with a 27% decrease in timing errors, such as late or early medication administration, and a 41% drop in the rate of errors not related to timing, which include incorrect dosages and administration without an order.
Also, researchers noted that the rate of potential adverse events associated with errors not related to timing fell from 3.1% to 1.6%—what they described as a nearly 51% relative reduction. Not surprisingly, use of a bar-code eMAR also eliminated transcription errors, which occurred at a rate of 6% on units that did not yet have the system in place.
Bar-code eMAR systems allow nurses to receive medication orders electronically from a pharmacist or from a computerized physician order-entry system, and then use a bar-code scanner to verify medications at the patient’s bedside.
The results of the study demonstrate that bar-coding can have a substantial effect on safety, according to Eric Poon, director of clinical informatics at Brigham and Women’s, and lead author of the study. Poon also expressed confidence that the observed improvements were due to the implementation of bar-code eMAR systems and not another factor.
“We took measurements within a pretty small time frame, and the implementation was the main project we were doing at the hospital during that time period,” Poon said.
Still unclear, however, is whether hospitals with limited resources should implement a CPOE or bar-code eMAR system, Poon said, adding that Brigham and Women’s has had a CPOE system in place for many years. The two systems catch different types of errors and complement one another, he said.
For instance, a CPOE system is more likely to prevent errors related to incorrect judgment or insufficient clinical knowledge when choosing a treatment plan, while a bar-code eMAR usually catches errors associated with lapses in memory or mental slips, the study said.
“If a hospital can only afford one, we need to know which one makes the most sense to implement first,” Poon said. “That question is still unanswered.”
Above article publish on http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100506/NEWS/100509970
admin on May 13th, 2010
The hospitals, clinics, health care centers and physicians, and all the other medical service providers look for the best medical transcription service. There are many companies which provide these services in conformity with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. These services are very cost effective and have helped in the efficient record maintenance of the patient’s medical records.
A Transcription Services Company should include transcriptionists of all medical sections like cardiology, radiology, orthopedics, pediatrics, gastro-enology etc. These specialists provide digital medical reports and that too with high quality of accuracy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act was implemented by the US Health and human service department. This act ensures that the medical records of the patients are kept under strict privacy and that the personal information of the patients in not used for any other purpose than the medical or health related issues.
By the year 2014 all the patient’s records will be converted to digital records. This has been designated by the federal government.
The companies which work as per the guidelines of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act guarantee that the data of the client would be kept completely confidential. The best medical transcription service will also help in saving a lot of dollars per year.
The data or the information of the patient is recorded as a dictation and is transferred through Voice over Internet Protocol to the company which provides such services and the medical transcriptionist reviews and edits the reports and sends them online only. Along with the transcriptionists there are proof readers, editors and analysts who try their best to maintain the quality standards. For best quality there are there assurance levels that one needs to maintain.
Above article publish on http://cliniccenter.myblogtrade.com/2010/05/12/medical-transcription-service-digital-records-in-safe-hands/
admin on May 4th, 2010
By Joseph Conn
The medical transcription industry, represented by its two trade groups, is preparing for what it sees as the possibility of heightened privacy, security and fraud enforcement by coming up with its own guidebook of ethics and best practices.
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, an association of medical transcription practitioners, formerly known as the American Association for Medical Transcription, and the Medical Transcription Industry Association, the trade group for transcription service providers, have released their “Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector.”
The release of the full guideline is timed to coincide with the MTIA’s annual conference April 28th-May 1st in Daytona Beach, Fla., according to Peter Preziosi, CEO of the two organizations, which formed what they describe as “a strategic legal partnership” in 2007.
Scott Edelstein, a Washington, D.C., lawyer in the healthcare law practice at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, was the lead author of the manual for the MTIA and AHDI. Edelstein said that more stringent privacy and security protections in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—which include new breach notification provisions and empower state attorneys general to enforce HIPAA privacy laws—as well as the increased fraud-fighting sections of the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will likely yield more government enforcement activities going forward, Edelstein said.
And that prompted the two trade groups to take a pro-active approach in producing the manual. “I think just generally, the tone for this administration is going to be increased in enforcement, because there is increased sensitivity for privacy of information,” Edelstein said.
“Most of the companies in the medical transcription industry tend to be small mom-and-pop operations, but they’re handling such sensitive information,” he said. “The concern is that some of these companies may not have taken all the measures needed under HIPAA and fraud and compliance laws, and this manual was to provide guidance for them.”
Data on the medical transcription industry is somewhat sketchy. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics places the number of medical transcriptionists in the U.S. workforce at around 100,000, but the BLS figures don’t capture independent contractors, according to Preziosi, “and I’d say a good 50% are independent contractors.”
Add in small physician offices where the office manager might double for an MT and, all told, there may be as many as 250,000 to 300,000 medical transcriptions working full or part-time for 1,500 to 1,700 companies, mostly sole proprietorships, though there also are a handful of “giants,” he said.
The manual offers a best practices check list, copies of the codes of ethics of both organizations, guides on billing practices and the rules on hiring employees vs. independent contractors, roughly 170 pages devoted to compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy and security rules, a how-to section on establishing a HIPAA-compliant home-based office, and a “50-state data privacy survey,” according to a listing of the manual’s contents on the AHDI website.
Such guidance doesn’t come cheap. Copies of the manual cost $4,000 for non members of the two associations, with prices ranging between free to $750 for MTIA members and $750 or $950 for AHDI members.
Above article publish on http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100426/NEWS/100429932
admin on April 28th, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Industry best practices, corporate transparency, and legal compliance will be the major topics of discussion at the 21st Annual Conference of the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) April 28 through May 1 in Daytona Beach, Florida. MTIA and its partner organization, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), will announce the completion of their Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector at the conference and use the event as an opportunity to highlight the importance of best practices to the future success of the medical transcription industry and profession. Additionally, a speech recognition adoption guide will be released to address the relevance of speech recognition technology as an evolving method of clinical documentation and to present operational and fiscal implications for technology adoption.
Heightened privacy and security requirements, increased calls for transparency of operations, greater reliance on speech recognition technologies, and a growing home-based workforce prompted the need to release these best practice guides. “With the emerging demand from healthcare delivery for increased standardization and greater specificity around exchange of health information, it is time for the healthcare documentation sector to look closely at its compliance practices and at evolving technologies to capture and deliver health information safely and securely,” states MTIA 2010 Board of Directors Chairperson Eileen Dwyer. “We want to be a resource for business owners and users of our services in developing best practices that reflect high-integrity business practices and promote transparency around key issues that reflect well on the industry as a whole.”
The Speech Recognition Adoption Guide is designed to help consumers understand adoption-related issues, impact, terminology, standards, and metrics. In addition, the guide presents unified perspectives of the varying stakeholder groups concerning issues such as documentation quality and risk management.
About MTIA
The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) is the world’s largest trade association serving medical transcription service organizations.
About AHDI
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), is the world’s largest professional society representing the clinical documentation sector whose purpose is to set and uphold standards for education and practice in the field of health data capture and documentation.
Above article publish on http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/27/1599948/transcription-association-releases.html
admin on April 22nd, 2010
By Rajeev Rajagopal
The healthcare industry is booming like never before. The substantial growth rate has triggered a massive response from BPO companies that offer accurate, affordable medical transcription for group practices. Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare centers strive to find the best transcription service providers in order to get quality service.
Physicians in group practices can’t often find time to manage the great inflow of patients and in addition to this, tight schedules and meetings hardly allow them any time off from work. Failure to manage their medical records properly would make patients lose faith in a medical practice and jeopardize its reputation. To employ staff for undertaking the work would not be practical owing to the huge expenses involved in terms of salary, employee benefits and other factors.
The practical approach to the problem lies in seeking the services of a reputable medical transcription company which would efficiently meet all the requirements regardless of the quantity of work the practice has. Most of the work is outsourced and therefore the cost of service tends to be considerably less. The practice could save as much as about 40%. In the long run, this would prove to be a great financial gain.
To provide accurate, affordable medical transcription for group practices outsourcing companies utilize the latest technology and software and complete the jobs entrusted within minimal turnabout time. Multilevel quality checks by quality analysts and verification of work by proofreaders ensure that transcription work is flawless.
HIPAA compliant companies take adequate safety and security measures. Encryption of data and transfer of files via FTP ensure dedicated and seamless connectivity. Last but not the least, round the clock customer/technical support addresses every issue to ensure customer satisfaction.
Above article publish on http://www.buzzle.com/articles/accurate-affordable-medical-transcription-for-group-practices.html
admin on April 9th, 2010
Companies who are in the medical transcription industry may underestimate the importance of a powerful voice transcription software platform. Consider for a moment that almost every function of that business will be affected by and handled by that system and it is easy to see how important it is to select the right one. Trying to save money on a system that does not significantly improve the productivity of medical transcriptionists can end up being a waste of capital.
There are many ways that voice transcription software can improve the profitability of a medical transcription business. The equation for making money is fairly simple; revenue has to go up and expenses must go down. The right voice transcription software platform can help a company to do both of these things.
In terms of reducing costs, things that medical transcription companies can look for in a software platform are advantages like local dictation telephone numbers that reduce the telephone bill. If a provider of this software has local numbers that are based in major centers across the country, then long distance charges will be minimized. It may not seem like a large expense, but when all of the clients that are dictating into a system are doing so for long periods of time and frequently then it can add up quickly.
Because the systems are so technical, often it can be beyond the abilities of the medical transcription company to maintain the voice transcription software and the servers that it will run on. This should be handled by the provider, and a good one will offer the large amount of storage space required at a good price. It will also be able to commit to having technical support available when it is needed.
Upgrades to the voice transcription software can also be expensive. When a transcription company is looking to engage a software provider, they should inquire about what kind of future costs they will have to shoulder for system upgrades. It is also important to know that upgrades can be facilitated without the need to bring down the system.
Improving profitability also has to do with increased revenue. If a voice transcription software platform can allow every medical transcriptionist to produce more in the same amount of time then this will have an effect on the company’s fortunes. This means having the ability to review and edit the document quickly and it also requires a seamless distribution of the work to medical transcriptionists. When documents are complete, it should also incorporate an automated system that delivers the finished product to clients.
Companies should move very carefully when they are considering purchasing a voice transcription software platform. It touches every department of their business and ones that provide a complete system will reduce the administrative burden on a company. When much of the tedium that was present in the industry in past years is eliminated by advanced software platforms, companies can then focus on retaining good talent and acquiring new clients.
Above article publish on http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/voice-transcription-software-to-grow-a-medical-transcription-business-2011433.html
admin on March 31st, 2010
By Arvind Kashyap
Ever since the beginning of medical services & procedures around the world, there was always a need for properly writing down medical procedures. It was an important thing, because it could be easily referred to whenever a patient’ treatment history was required. Hence, initially it started with Doctor’s assistants writing down treatment procedures for the future reference of the doctor. But these instructions which were purely in Medical terms needed to be elaborated for easy comprehension of others in the medical fraternity.
To address this problem, and help in creating a comprehensible treatment history of every patient, Medical Transcription was formally introduced. The task of a Medical Transcriptionist thus involved understanding the medical jargon written by the doctor’s assistant, and document the same in easily understandable language. Slowly, this practice became popular and with the advent of recording devices, it was completely transformed to a totally new level.
The recorded tapes could now be sent to Medical Transcription companies located at the farthest corners of the world, and they would document the tape and send it across through internet in just a matter of hours. With the increasing presence of internet, Medical Transcription Services have attained greater significance in developed countries across the world. Doctors practicing in US, Canada, Australia & Europe are hiring transcription Companies based in Developing countries for their transcription work.
Countries like India have seen a big rise in the number of Companies, because of abundant availability of educated labor, who are able to deliver highly accurate transcription work at fairly cheap rates. And this also is the prime reason behind outsourcing of Medical Transcription Services to India which is growing at a pretty healthy rate through the past few years.
Considering the fact that rising concern about quality health services is only going up all the time, the future does look quite bright for people working in the business of transcription in India. As more and more Doctors in the west queue-up for quality Transcription services, the Transcription companies in India are sure looking for a pretty busy and booming future ahead.
Above article publish on http://ezinearticles.com/?Medical-Transcription-Poised-For-Bigger-Things-Ahead!&id=3957999
