Medical Transcription Outsourcing: Dependable And Prompt

Medical transcription is a service that has been associated with healthcare for a long time. Through out the evolution of healthcare from the beginning till date, documenting the patient-healthcare professional encounter has always been important. The documentation of the patient-healthcare professional encounter is important because it fulfills the following purposes:

v It provides continuity: Documenting every encounter between the patient-healthcare professional provides information so that the patient’s medical history is continuous and has no breaks. This enables the healthcare professional to impart the right form of healthcare.

v It provides information on the progress: Every time a patient comes in for continued treatment, the progress made by him can define all future steps to ensure his further recovery

v It provides context: Context in case of healthcare is important so that the right treatment program can be designed at the right time

v It provides feedback: Maintaining records provides feedback about the patient’s response to a certain treatment. This is an important diagnostic tool to monitor therapies

v It provides information for innovation and change: In case a new procedure or drug is used, maintaining a record on the frequency of usage and the reaction to it can help make innovation and necessary changes.

v It provides the basis of research: Patient records are a valuable source for research inputs.

Apart from these aspects, documenting the patient-healthcare professional encounter provides the basis for coding and billing, leading to realization of payments. Enumerating the purpose of medical records serves to highlight the role of transcription.

Outsourcing medical transcription has always been one of the most efficient and economic ways of assuring that both low costs of transcription and the quality of reports are maintained. This affects the bottom-line of the healthcare facility and the quality of care imparted. To fulfill both these criteria a transcription service provider needs to be both dependable and prompt.

What defines dependable medical transcription?
Dependable transcription can be evaluated based on the following criteria:

o Accuracy: For transcription to be dependable the accuracy of the data in the transcribed document needs to be as close as possible to the audio records. This ensures that both the quality of healthcare and accuracy of coding and billing are maintained.

o Pricing: For transcription to be dependable the pricing needs to be fair and consistent to ensure that the financial planning of the healthcare facility does not get affected. Terms of pricing need to be clearly defined so that the prices are clearly understood by both the parties.

o Security: For transcription to be dependable the security of confidential patient needs to be maintained through the use of right technology, right processes and the right people.

o Technology: For transcription to be dependable the technology used has to facilitate easy uploads and downloads of files through secure channels. Technology has an impact on both the turnaround time and security aspects. Technology has to provide additional features like archiving, HL7 interface and flexible modes of dictation.

What defines prompt medical transcription?
Prompt medical transcription is defined by:

o Turnaround time: For transcription to be prompt the turnaround time guaranteed has to be met under all circumstances including weekend and holiday transcription requirements.

Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider can ensure dependable and prompt services.Author:Expert MT
Source:http://www.articledashboard.com/