The Medical Transcription industry, recently rechristened as the Clinical Documentation industry, is gearing up to counter the challenges posed by technology and outsourcing. In order to reinvent itself, the industry has resolved to move beyond conventional medical transcription services to encompass every touch point in the clinical documentation continuum, according to the newly-formed Clinical Documentation [...]
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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
admin on March 26th, 2010
By Greg Doggett, JD
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 brought major changes to the medical transcription sector. Medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs) and medical transcriptionists (MTs) have focused their attention on the portion of the Act that created increased HIPAA privacy and security obligations for business associates. That focus is certainly understandable given the potential civil and criminal penalties for failure to fulfill those obligations; however, the Act’s changes to HIPAA will likely have less of a long-term effect on the medical transcription industry than another key part of the legislation.
The HITECH Act makes billions of dollars in financial incentives available to physicians and hospitals that make “meaningful use” of a certified electronic health record (EHR) system. The Act provided little detail on what constitutes meaningful use or a certified EHR, leaving that task up to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONCHIT). The federal government sought input from stakeholder groups before issuing highly anticipated, proposed regulations at the end of 2009. Organizations, including the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA), have analyzed the proposed regulations to determine their feasibility and consequences for quality of care, patient safety and efficiency.
Most concerning to AHDI and MTIA was the fact that the proposed regulations did not mention the dictation-transcription process or narrative reports. Failure to recognize these elements will have negative consequences for physician acceptance and adoption of EHR systems, the quality of health information, and, in turn, quality of care and patient safety. That is why AHDI and MTIA are calling for the government to explicitly recognize that several means of data capture would allow a physician or hospital to meet the criteria for meaningful use, including utilization of the dictation-transcription process to feed structured narrative reports and discrete data elements through data tagging into the EHR. Failure to recognize these elements will lead to the false perception that physician entry is the only option for capturing this information. In addition, AHDI and MTIA are calling for certified EHR systems to have the functionality to accept structured document formats from the dictation-transcription process, thereby enabling providers’ use of the process.
AHDI and MTIA members will take these messages to Capitol Hill on March 24 during the associations’ fifth annual Advocacy Summit. The event is an opportunity for MTs, MTSO owners and executives, educators, students and others within the medical transcription space to educate legislators on the sector’s vital contribution to quality of care and patient safety and to request their support for legislation and regulations that will capitalize upon the sector’s valuable contribution to improve health information and delivery of care.
The dictation-transcription process remains physicians’ documentation method of choice because it is easy to use and is time-efficient, thus allowing physicians more time to focus on treating their patients. In addition, narrative reports generated from the dictation-transcription process tell the entire patient story, are easier to read and understand among clinicians for coordinating and continuing care, and will be more meaningful to patients seeking information about their health care than a printout with a mere series of discrete, disjointed data elements. By acknowledging the dictation-transcription process as one of the methods to capture health information in the regulations, physicians will be more likely to embrace the push for greater EHR adoption and to find the experience of using an EHR positive and less cumbersome when it comes to the documentation process. Requiring certified EHRs to accept structured narrative reports from the dictation-transcription process will improve the flow of information between narrative reports and EHRs.
The dictation-transcription process is a proven and effective documentation method. MTSOs and MTs have long worked with physicians to deliver accurate, complete, consistent and secured records in the health care system to optimize patient care delivery and to enhance patient safety. By employing health care documentation professionals as a solution to the challenges of EHR adoption, the federal government will ensure wider and more successful adoption, a win-win for physicians and patients.
Above article publish on http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Columns/AHDI-Track/Bringing-Transcription-EHR-Together.aspx
admin on March 23rd, 2010
When it comes to choosing a medical transcription company, ensure that you receive better benefits than those offered by other companies. In the field of healthcare, one cannot compromise on any aspect which could jeopardize the interests of patients. There are a lot of outsourcing companies which claim excellence in service but only a reputable few keep their word.
A client should decide first whether he wants his work to be processed onshore or offshore. Most outsourcing companies charge less as bulk of the work is processed abroad, where the cost of labor is considerably low.
The internet is vulnerable as such; therefore, be sure to select a medical transcription company which uses encryption software to protect the processed files before being sending them to the clients. The outsourcing company should necessarily utilize the latest technology with file management systems with interface that support all file formats. This will help you avoid the hassle of seeking alternatives in future. HIPAA compliant medical transcription companies ensure that the patient’s right to privacy is respected and there is no loss of information.
Now-a-days, almost all major MT companies provide multiple file transfer option. This feature saves valuable time. Toll free numbers help you avoid expenditure incurred for calls. Dictations via these numbers make it easy and convenient for both client and outsourcing company. Alternately, the standard practice of dictating using digital recorders can also be made use of. The service offered should focus on accuracy with the least minimum turnabout time. Seek out companies which undertake multilevel quality analysis of the processed work.
When choosing a medical transcription company to suit your needs, ascertain that the services offered are flexible and that they would offer customized services. A well established company takes pride in maintaining customer satisfaction and for prospective clients they go a step further by offering free trial service to prove that they mean business.
Above article publish on http://www.buzzle.com/articles/choosing-a-medical-transcription-company.html
admin on March 17th, 2010
Medical transcription is the process converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians,document template design,audio transcription Melbourne,professional document design or other health care professionals, into text format.
The process of medical transcription is fairly simple. When the accommodating visits a doctor, the doctor spends time with the accommodating discussing his medical problems, including accomplished history and bloom issues.
The doctor then performs a physical examination and may request various laboratory or diagnostic studies, depending on the needs of the patient. Then, the doctor will make a diagnosis or differential diagnoses.
The patient and doctor then need to decide on a plan of treatment for the patient. They determine the best choice after explaining the procedure to the patient and discussing the benefits and dangers.
After the accommodating leaves the office, the doctor uses a voice-recording accessory to almanac the advice about the accommodating encounter. The information generally recorded includes needs and illnesses of the patient, diagnosis, and any other relevant material.
This advice may be recorded into a hand-held cassette recorder or into a approved telephone, dialed into a axial server amid in the hospital or archetype account office, which will ‘hold’ the address for the transcriptionist.
After being recorded, this report is then accessed by a medical transcriptionist. The recording that they receives is a articulation book or cassette recording.
The medical transcriptionist listens to the dictation and transcribes it into the required format for the medical record. The medical almanac they actualize is advised to be a acknowledged document.
The next time the patient visits the doctor, the doctor will call for the medical record. This medical almanac is additionally referred to as the patient’s chart, which will accommodate all letters from antecedent encounters.
From this medical record, the doctor can on occasion refill the patient’s medications. Although doctors prefer to not refill prescriptions without seeing the patient first, to thoroughly establish if anything has changed that may affect their medication.
It is basic to accept a appropriately formatted, edited, and advised document. If a medical transcriptionist accidentally types in the wrong medication or the incorrect diagnosis, the patient could be at high risk.
To abate this occurrence, doctors analysis the certificate for accuracy. Both the Doctor and the transcriptionist play an important role in ensuring the transcribed dictation is typed correctly and accurately.
The Doctor should allege boring and concisely, abnormally back dictating medications or capacity of diseases and conditions, and the transcriptionist charge acquire audition acuity, medical knowledge, and acceptable account comprehension, in accession to blockage references back in doubt.
However, some doctors do not analysis their transcribed letters for accuracy. Often transcribed actual will be apprehend by doctors back application a computer.
Above article publish on http://www.nettrafficbrokers.com/1424/the-process-of-medical-transcription-defined/
admin on March 10th, 2010
Medical transcription service for individual doctors and physicians group is very much in demand today, largely because it helps to remove the tremendous stress related to record keeping work. A number of medical transcription companies are active in the field now, providing value added services. Medical professionals specialized in the field of cardiology, pediatrics, orthopedics, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and more benefit from these services. Outsourcing medical transcription not only makes the administrative work easier but also quicker, with enhanced efficiency.
Outsourcing companies have transcription professionals who are trained and experienced. They ensure that clients receive error free work within minimum turnaround time. Services are usually provided on a 24×7 basis. Customer satisfaction is guaranteed as multi-tier quality checks are conducted by proofreaders, editors and quality analysts. As the work is outsourced offshore to countries where the cost of labor is cheap, clients save a considerable sum of money both in short term and long term contracts.
Medical transcription companies regularly invest to acquire the latest in software and technology so that work is simplified and delivered as per client’s requirement. HIPAA compliant companies abide by strict rules and regulations. Every possible measure is taken to ensure that the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality is maintained and this is done by protecting patient data using strong encryption software and dedicated FTP.
Medical transcription service for individual doctors and physicians group helps these entities to efficiently manage patient records. A large amount of money is saved since you can avoid appointing office staff to take care of such administrative work. Moreover, reputable medical transcription companies offer affordable services.
Above article publish on http://www.buzzle.com/articles/medical-transcription-service-for-individual-doctors-and-physicians-group.html
