Posts Tagged ‘Medical Transcription Outsourcing’
admin on September 1st, 2010
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 medical transcription and clinical documentation professionals. The program reports additional success with their HIPAA Compliance Webinar Series, Increasing Productivity Through Technology Webinar Series, and soon-to-be-announced inclusion of Speech Recognition Editing.
“The importance of medical transcriptionists (MTs) and clinical documentation editors has never been greater as hospitals continue to report increases in physician dictation volumes alongside, not replaced by, EHR growth,” mentions Kim Buchanan, CMT, AHDI-F, Director of Instructor Development and Industry Relations for M-TEC. Even in the most technologically advanced hospitals, 62% of physician reports are created using dictation and medical transcription.
Source : http://emrdailynews.com/2010/05/25/m-tec-endorses-importance-of-medical-transcription-and-clinical-documentation-industry/
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 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 September 30th, 2009
By ahdi
The recently enacted Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009 represents an important first step towards achieving the vision of a nationwide, fully interoperable electronic health record (EHR) system. However, the gap between that vision and current reality remains wide. Many healthcare providers still use paper records. Other providers have tried to implement EHR systems, but unfortunately, many such projects have failed. “Industry experts agree that failure rates of electronic medical record (EMR) implementations range from 50 to 80 percent.” Clearly, the challenges of EHR adoption and implementation remain great.
EHRs promise to lower costs resulting from inefficiency and inappropriate and/or redundant care while improving the coordination of care and exchange of information among healthcare enterprises. However, despite these promises and efforts to date, adoption rates among physicians still remain relatively low, with costs cited as a major deterrent. Other adoption concerns include complex organizational and system work flow issues and the increased documentation burdens on the part of physicians when they are asked to use direct text entry. Several studies have shown that practice productivity can decrease by at least 10 percent for several months following EHR implementation. In some non-oncology studies, the average drop in revenue from that loss of productivity was approximately $7,500 per physician.”
Above article published on
http://www.healthcaretechnologyonline.com/article.mvc/Medical-Transcription-Proven-Accelerator-Of-0002
admin on July 17th, 2009
Should doctors be taken word-for-word?
By Cheryl McEvoy
A run-on sentence. A misspelled drug. A superfluous comma. Heck, maybe even a split infinitive. Dictation errors can irk word-wary MTs, but should they be forced to overlook such grammatical offenses? Thus begins the debate over verbatim transcription, a contractual item that makes MTs withhold all judgment — medical, grammatical or otherwise — and simply type what the dictator says. The controversial practice pits risk management against quality assurance (QA), but MTs’ reputations and patient care are what’s on the line.
While traditional transcription lets MTs correct punctuation, misspellings and dictation errors at their discretion, verbatim transcription requires MTs to transcribe notes exactly as dictated. The practice is usually based on the client’s preferences; if a doctor doesn’t want his words altered, the MT is expected to transcribe word-for-word. There are arguments for and against the no-edits approach, but most MTs aren’t thrilled about it.
The running joke is, “If you want verbatim transcription, I will put in every ‘uh,’ ‘ah,’ ‘oh’ and ‘um’ that you have dictated,” said Barb Marques, CMT, AHDI-F, president-elect of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).
In reality, it’s no laughing matter.
Risky Business
Doctors can make mistakes, so risk managers champion verbatim transcription as a way to keep MTs from taking the fall, according to Donna Brosmer, CMT, AHDI-F, NREMT-B, quality officer, Spheris. If the document ends up in court, an MT can claim no culpability because the doctor requested the dictation be transcribed word for word. If the MT changed any words, he or she might be held accountable for the error – a mark hospitals and medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs) don’t want on their hands.
But many say verbatim transcription neglects the value a skilled MT can bring to the table. With knowledge of diseases, diagnoses, treatments and medical terminology — not to mention, a knack for grammar and punctuation — MTs can serve as the first line of defense against errors, according to Brosmer. “You have a group of very intelligent people creating these reports, transcribing these reports,” she said.
For example, a good MT would know the difference between Xanax and Zantac and could correct the mix-up if a doctor misspoke, Brosmer said. MTs are also trained to notice when a doctor switches between left and right.
“If he said ‘right foot’ five times in the report and he gets down to the bottom and says ‘left,’ 99.9 percent [of the time], he really does mean the right foot,” Marques said.
Errors like that are becoming more common as good dictators become few and far between. With doctors able to dictate from their Blackberrys and iPhones, MTs are struggling to hear over the background sound of gyms, pools and oncoming traffic, Brosmer said.
Physicians are also getting more lax. Marques said today’s rising doctors do not speak in complete sentences, making it harder to understand the report. While a skilled MT would have the confidence to edit and make corrections without delaying the report, with verbatim transcription, the MT would have to query the physician or flag errors in hopes he would re-examine his work.
Making matters worse, many doctors don’t review their transcribed reports, according Lesli McGill, director of U.S. operations, SPi Healthcare. McGill hails from the “old school” of transcription, where she learned to edit as she transcribed. She recalled the “rubber stamp” method physicians used to approve reports — simply passing it on without so much as a glance. In today’s electronic environment, that stamp has been replaced with a click of approval, making it even easier to overlook flagged items.
Employee Pride
What the controversy boils down to is quality. MTs pride themselves on delivering a timely and accurate record, so they loathe initialing a document that isn’t up to par — especially if that document is hauled into court. “[MTs] want people to understand they did the best job they could with that document,” McGill said. “It reflects badly on them if it’s a verbatim account and you’ve got a bad dictator.”
The squabble isn’t likely to end soon, the experts said. The topic was among discussions at the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) Convention last April, and it’s expected to be on MTs’ minds at the AHDI conference later this month. In health care, quality isn’t something to take lightly; a mistake that slips through the cracks could mean the difference between life and death. MTs are supposed to be the first defense against errors, but amid the skirmish of lawsuits and legal liability, some fear verbatim transcription will push patient care to the wayside.
Cheryl McEvoy is an editorial assistant with ADVANCE
Above article published on
http://health-information.advanceweb.com/editorial/content/editorial.aspx?cc=202692
admin on June 24th, 2009
Medical transcription, also known as MT, is an allied health profession, which deals in the process of transcription, or converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals into text format.
Traditional medical transcription is a form of document creation that the medical industry considers outdated, but necessary as a means of providing the necessary documentation needed to satisfy regulatory and insurance provider requirements. The practice of modern medicine dictates that the physicians spend more time serving patient needs than creating documents in order to make financial ends meet. More modern methods of document creation are being implemented through the technology of computers and the internet. Voice Recognition (VR) is one of these new-age technologies. With the power to write up to 200 words per minute with 99% accuracy Voice Recognition has freed physicians from the shackles of traditional transcription services.
Medical transcription is still the primary mechanism for a physician to clearly communicate with other healthcare providers who access the patient record; to advise them on the state of the patient’s health and past/current treatment; to assure continuity of care. More recently, following Federal and State Disability Act changes, a written report (IME) became a requirement for documentation of a medical bill or an application for Workers’ Compensation (or continuation thereof) insurance benefits based on requirements of Federal and State agencies.
The medical transcription industry will continue to undergo metamorphosis based on many contributing factors like advancement in technology, practice workflow, regulations etc. The evolution toward the electronic patient record demonstrates that, over time, documentation habits will change either through standards and regulations or through personal preferences. Until recently, there were few standards and regulations that MTs and their employers had to meet. First, we had the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It wasn’t long ago “experts” stated that HIPAA would not have any effect on the medical transcription industry. Either in a state of denial or ignorance of the law, many transcriptionists and companies have continued on their existing course of providing medical transcription. Many providers are concerned that the majority of the transcription industry will not be able to meet several specific requirements: namely, access controls, policies and procedures, and audits of access to the patient information. Without the knowledge or resources to comply, many in the industry are claiming to comply and signing their Business Associates Agreements without taking the security measures required. Many are uninformed, and some are choosing to remain so, believing that the world of transcription cannot possibly be expected to make these adaptations. The fact is that the employers will demand HIPAA compliance and will change employees and contractors when they don’t get it. There will also be demands to enhance patient safety, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. It is mandatory for service providers and healthcare practices to migrate to a HIPAA compliant environment.
Above article published on
http://www.mediformatica.com/medical-transcription/index.php
admin on June 2nd, 2009
WASHINGTON – (Business Wire) The proven ability for medical transcription to facilitate accurate, cost-effective EHR adoption will be the key message brought by the members of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) to federal legislators on Capitol Hill when the associations convene in Washington, DC, for their annual Advocacy Summit. With the HITECH Act, the Obama Administration’s high priority on nationwide EHR adoption has opened an opportunity for the transcription sector to educate the current Administration and Congress about the need for contemplative, prudent migration to the EHR – one that preserves the role of complex narrative and engages human intelligence in ensuring the accurate, secure capture of patient healthcare encounters.
The Advocacy Summit, being held June 3-4, 2009, in Washington, DC, will focus on the need for standards and regulations in EHR technology integration/adoption, the role of transcription in safeguarding protected health information (PHI), and the need for workforce development funding in healthcare documentation to ensure a knowledgeable.
“Healthcare can ill afford a knee-jerk reaction to the EHR requirements of the HITECH Act,” states Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, AHDI/MTIA chief executive officer. “Successful EHR adoption and meaningful interoperability hinge on healthcare’s ability to set standards that promote efficient, cost-effective, quality-driven data capture solutions. The transcription sector is uniquely positioned to offer healthcare delivery the means to make that happen, and that’s what we’ll be sharing with this new Administration and the new Congress.”
The associations will take to the Hill their Transcription: Proven Accelerator to EHR Adoption whitepaper, which includes compelling statistics that demonstrate (a) the loss of income to physicians who integrate EMR/EHR technologies ineffectively, (b) the critical role of transcription technology solutions in facilitating better EHR adoption, (c) the value of solutions that create “rich, interrelated narratives” rather than cookie-cutter records, and (d) the irreplaceable role of a knowledge worker in data integrity management.
About AHDI
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), has been the professional organization representing medical transcriptionists since 1978. AHDI sets standards of practice and education for medical transcriptionists, administers a dual credentialing program, has established a code of ethics, and advocates on behalf of the profession. For more information, visit www.ahdionline.org.
About MTIA
The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) is the world’s largest trade association serving medical transcription service operators. Its mission is to create an environment in which medical transcription companies can prosper, grow, and deliver the highest level of healthcare documentation services. For more information, visit www.mtia.com. The two associations formed a strategic legal partnership in 2007 to pool critical resources and collaborate on key initiatives focused on optimizing healthcare delivery.
Above article published on
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ehr-adoption-success-directly-linked,837291.shtml
