Friday, February 5, 2010

Transcribing Your Life

Books on tape, CD or mp3 are popular because they enable you to multitask. You sit an knit or drive while you are hearing your greatest author speak about diet plans to lose weight or make money with real estate. With more audio content becoming available on the Internet, you can hear talk radio shows on pod-casts, called because of the iPods that propelled them into easy access and popularity.

Reaching a larger audience than ever before, you can have an online one person show talking about whatever subjects you are interested in. Audio reaches even those unable to see well, like the partially blind or, like my grandmother, those elderly who have suffered sight loss through complications from diabetes or age. On the reverse side of this coin, if you already have a successful audio product, you might be interested in turning it into a book or individual show transcriptions. Transcribing a conversation can be done using online transcription services. Transcribing takes an audio file and turns it into written words.

In school, we were required to learn a little bit about transcribing. Our school was built in the stone age, so we used tapes that were controlled with a foot panel that stopped the tapes and then rewound them a little bit so you could be certain to not miss any words or have breaks in the flow of speech. I hated that class. I think I got a C. All sorts of antiquated equipment that barely made sense and we got to learn all the fun short cuts for operating systems no longer in common use.

This was my school's idea of teaching financial literacy, teaching us how to write checks and then giving us points off for forgetting to enter them into a check register, what fonts look best on software and how to make a household budget that did not include such important items as car payments, a mortgage or food. One of the best things I learned in that class was I am really good at cooking and I like transcribing my own thoughts without using a transcription device.

I also learned that online banking is a good deal. More than a decade after that class, it records what checks or automatic payments have been deducted from my account, has software to track my spending and registers my checks. I really think things have changed since I was in school, for the better.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Some Factors to Consider When Hiring an Audio Transcription Company

SOME FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN HIRING AN AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY
Importantly, talk with various audio transcription Companies about your needs and determine what the company can do for you. It is important that the company works with you as well as for you. A good, working relationship is very important and the company should always be aware of your needs and be willing to discuss around the topic(s)/projects you have, to ensure you receive speedy and accurate audio transcriptions.
Make sure the transcription service can meet your timeframe demands. If you need your information in a couple of days, then that is when they need to deliver. Late work can be as frustrating as inaccurate work.
Small errors can make a huge difference in how you receive the information. Make sure your transcription service can replicate the information accurately and, above all, consistently from project to project.
You need your information kept confidential. Talk to your transcription service provider about their regulations regarding security. Their typists should sign a Confidentiality Agreement.
Get assurances from the transcription provider that files will be deleted from their/their typists' computers and any transfer USB sticks, as and when you wish, after completion of a piece of work. This is especially important where sensitive work is involved; you may also wish to insist that all computers are password protected on boot up - computers can get stolen after all.
Search for a transcription service provider with experience and one which has worked in your industry before - this can save a lot of headaches, especially if the provider is not familiar with your branch of business, terminology etc.
If you need transcription services frequently, find out if a typist/team could be assigned to your account. This way, the same people will be working with your information and will get to "tune in" to voices and accents, so producing more accurate transcriptions. It will also help to ensure that you get style consistency within your work eg. words ending in -ise/-ize, consistency in punctuation style etc.
There may be a little trial and error in finding the right transcription company for your work, but as with most things, word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool.
About the Author
If you would like to learn more about our Digital Audio Transcription Service, please visit our website SJH Transcriptions and we will willingly discuss your needs with you. We aim to be competitive and always work with our customers to ensure the best possible transcription.
Source : http://www.goarticles.com/

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Medical Transcription Increases Provider Productivity

The demand for fast, accurate medical transcription is at an all-time high. The increased need for electronic medical record access and the ongoing improvements on patient privacy and safety is forcing providers to cut costs and increase their productivity. This article will provide you with information about how medical transcription can increase provider productivity and cut costs. Whether you are a solo provider, small physician practice, large group practice or a community health center, the following information will be beneficial to you.

Highly efficient dictation and medical transcription solutions can significantly reduce transcription costs and turnaround time. With an experienced medical transcription service company, you can increase provider productivity, improve document accuracy and decrease turnaround time, allowing you to spend more time on patient care.

Here are just a few of the advantages associated with outsourcing medical transcription:

- Reduced overall transcription costs
- Improved patient record accuracy
- Faster turnaround time
- Improved provider satisfaction
- 24/7 electronic access to patient records anywhere, anytime

When using an outside medical transcription service, in-house medical transcriptionist, or pointing and clicking through an EHR ask yourself, how much time am I spending on documenting patient encounters? By reducing the time it takes to document patient encounters you'll be able to increase productivity and reduce your overall costs.

How can you reduce the time spent managing your clinical documentation? First take a close look at your whole process for ways to reduce your time. One way to reduce time is to make the dictation process easier and faster for your physicians and other providers by creating consistent templates and using "macros" and "normals." Your medical transcription provider should be able to work with you on creating these templates if you haven't done so already.

Reducing costs is easier than it sounds. In addition to comparing medical transcription services cost per line you should also consider a finding a service that can streamline your processes and reduce the time spent managing documentation. This leads to higher satisfaction and reduced overall costs. Also by working with your medical transcription service company to identify other areas for improvement such as quality, you can reduce the time it takes to manage clinical documents.

Medical transcription solutions should fit within a standard workflow that begins with providers dictating clinical information and ends with coding professionals sending complete and accurately coded patient data on to billing. In an industry as complex and as heavily regulated as the healthcare industry, your medical transcription solution should provide superior technology, 98% accuracy or better and a standard 24-hour turnaround time.

With automated workflows, customizable templates, and electronic signature authentication that lets providers edit patient documentation anytime, from anywhere, medical transcription services mean less repetitive data entry, reduced turnaround times, and more time for delivering quality patient care.

The downside? With multiple systems and technologies in any given healthcare facility today, installing new technology can be a challenge. Your medical transcription partner can help make the implementation as smooth as possible. Most should be able to provide you with software training and instruction through on-site or web-based sessions to help new employees come up to speed quickly as well as provide refresher training later on.

The right medical transcription solution can help providers increase productivity through comprehensive software, fast turnaround time, improved quality and 24/7 access to clinical documentation. Plus many medical transcription companies give providers the flexibility to choose traditional dictation or speech recognition, which can greatly reduce turnaround time and costs.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
About the Author:
Craig Mercure is VP of Sales & Marketing at MxSecure, the fastest growing provider of medical transcription services to physicians, medical practices, multi-specialty clinics and community health centers. Learn more about medical transcription solutions, dictation and EHRs - visit our site.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Why Use Online Transcription Services?

Using an online transcription service has become more prominent in the last decade. Remember when you needed anything typed, you either had to do it yourself or hire an office person, possibly full-time, to get the work done, even if work was sporadic? Using an online transcription service is most popular these days, and I hope this will help you understand why and how to choose the best service to fit your needs.
Let's say you need a project transcribed. Do you hire someone as an employee fulltime for just that project? Do you transcribe all of it yourself and take away from your precious time? If you pay an online transcription service, it will be temporary (or until your project is completed) or you can have them do regular work, and you won't have the need to provide benefits. The online transcription services company contracts with independent contractors (professional transcriptionists) to do the work for you, as needed.
Selecting an online transcription services company is tricky. You might search in Google or another search engine and come up with a very long list of transcription companies, so you'll need to do some research. Visit each site and make comparisons. If you know someone who has used an online transcription service, ask them about their experience. It's very important to make the right decision. Here are some things to look for when making your decision.
Is their website easy to read and easy to use (user-friendly)? Is their website too cluttered? Does the website answer your questions? Compare their rates and turnaround times. Notice their methods of payment. Do you notice grammatical/punctuation errors? Does the website have a copyright? Are they easy to contact and do they list their contact info? Have you checked forums, blogs, or articles for an opinion? Have you checked to make sure the website is not a scam? If they ask for ANY money at all for ANYTHING upfront, DO NOT USE THEM. Have you checked to see what type of upload process they use for your audios? Is their FTP transfer secure? Make certain everything they do for you is 100% confidential. Ask questions about their typist pool and who will be doing the work for you. Is the work outsourced to another country? How can you be certain of that? ASK! Do you find their customer services reps to be courteous and helpful? Are they expedient in returning your calls or emails? Check with the Better Business Bureau. Check their work accuracy rate.
These are just a few of the things to take into consideration when choosing the best online transcription service for you.
Just because a transcription service might be ranked in Google on Page 1 doesn't mean they are the best choice. ANYONE can get their site on the first page by paying a lot of money in advertising. A smaller transcription service might not have as much money to spend on advertising, but they depend on word-of-mouth advertising instead, and this only makes sense. The only way to find out is to use the service for a small order and make the decision yourself.
They might offer you some type of incentive for using their service or a discount for volume work. Get the best deal you can for the best work they can produce for you. Customer service is very important in any type of business, but when it comes to transcription and what you pay for it, you really do want courtesy, and you also want the customer service representative to know what they're talking about in giving you the best possible answers to your questions and helping you get started in terms you can understand. They must also be computer savvy in order to help you through the process of signing up with them and giving you instructions on how to use their service.
Your working relationship with your online transcription service choice must be pleasant and uncomplicated. The customer service representative must be personable, helpful, and understanding, always willing to help.
To that end, please do research prior to making your decision on which transcription services company to use. The above tips should help you make that decision.
About the Author
Chromolume Transcription (866) 375-2441 Santa Monica, California
Source: http://www.goarticles.com/

Monday, February 1, 2010

ABOUT TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

Transcription is the process of typing from audio to text. The audio may come from any type of media, such as a CD, DVD, tape, Video, etc.; however, the most common audio format is digital, such as .mp3, .dss, .wma, .wav, etc. The audio is typed into a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect.
A transcriptionist is someone who transcribes from audio to text, and the necessary equipment she/he needs would be a good set of headphones, a foot pedal (with this, one is able to control the audio), and a software program, such as Express Scribe, to listen to the audio.
A transcription service is a company (either in-house or online) that will provide you with the services you need. Transcription service companies normally contract with independent contractors, transcriptionists, in order to complete the work.
An office in need of transcription services might prefer to use a transcription services company in order to get a large project completed or simply because their in-house staff is absent for some reason. They may also use a transcription services company on a regular basis in lieu of hiring in-house staff in order to save on offering benefits and having someone there all day when there is no need to do so.
Because these online transcriptionists are independent contractors, you will not need to pay taxes on the work they do for you. The independent contractors receive 1099s at the beginning of the year because they are self-employed. This can save you a great deal of money in getting your work sent out to a transcription services company.
Transcription services companies should guarantee 100% confidentiality and also, at minimum, 98% accuracy. This is extremely important to all customers, and a new customer should always do research for just the right company prior to signing up with their services.
Although Google is a good source for finding the right company, word of mouth is also very important. If you know a colleague, friend, or family member who has used a transcription services company, simply asking them may do the trick. Otherwise, do not count on the No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 company listed in Google to do a good job for you. They may, in fact, be the right choice; however, there is more to it than that.
In many of the transcription forums online, you could find a list of transcription companies. You could also read some threads in those forums that might suggest a good fit for you. Most transcription companies also have a “rating” listed online. This could also be helpful. You might also make a list of companies, call each one and speak to a company representative, and then make your choice based on that.
The company representative must be able to answer any and all questions you may have in a friendly, courteous, and helpful manner. The representative must be ready and willing to help you not only with questions, but also with any technical questions you may have regarding the use of their FTP tool (File Transfer Protocol), signing up with them as a customer, and also be ready to take down your contact information as a reference for the future.
You now know what a transcription service is, what they do, and the steps to take in finding just the right company for you. It is now left up to you whether it would be advantageous to you in using transcription services.

About the Author

Joyce Warran is the Transcription Director for Chromolume Transcription. She has many years of experience in transcription, business management, marketing, and writing.
Chromolume Transcription (866) 375-2441 transcription@crtranscription.com
Source : http://www.goarticles.com/

Data Transcription Services What You Need To Know

Data transcription services are a popular vertical of the offshore outsourcing industry. Since data is an invaluable part of business and forms the basic foundation of the various processes, it is important to make it accessible across various channels. This is why data transcription services are immensely helpful to a business. It refers to the process of transforming data from one medium to another and therefore, making in available in a variety of formats.

And if you are looking forward to hiring data transcription services, it would be wise to first gather a thorough knowledge about the nature of the transcription business. Data transcription is not easy. In fact, there are various challenges that needs to be overcome if the quality of data needs to be maintained.

There are a number of offshore service providers who offer valuable data transcription services for your business. They have a team of in-house transcriptionists who work round the clock to meet deadlines and deliver solutions for the project concerned. There are also freelance data transcriptionists that you can hire for a lower price, but if you are seeking quality deliverables, you should rather hire a professional company that has significant experience of the industry and expertise of the task.

Outsourcing Data Transcription Works

Before you go ahead and sign the deal, it is important to know who to outsource effectively. You need to evaluate the potential service providers and key in on the one that you think is actually capable of supplying you with quality deliverables and that too at a reasonable turnaround time.

There are various steps and procedures that are involved in outsourcing data transcription services. As a client, it is important that you know these so that you have a clearer understanding about the processes of the data transcription company.

Finding Professional Transcriptionists – The first and foremost step that needs to be accomplished is to find a professional data transcription service provider. Even though you may be tempted to hire freelancers who would offer their services at a cheaper price, it is important to consider the experience and expertise of established companies who are not only more credible but have a better understanding of the industry. These companies have qualified data professionals with high level analytical skills and type fast and accurately.

Getting the Job Done – The next step is handing over the data that needs to be transcribed to the service provider. When you do this, make sure you also specify a deadline when you need the transcribed files back. Often service providers commit to a said time/date but fail to make deliveries on the due date. Therefore, make sure you draft a contract that sets on paper all the deadlines and milestones for the project.

Consider the Time Differences – If your service provider provider is based in another country, you would need to consider the time differences. Your work hours would not coincide with theirs and its best to consider these differences beforehand and plan the course of your project. Remember, if you mail them something, it would take around 12 to 24 hours before the transcriptionists read it. Therefore, make sure to do things well in advance.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com
About the Author:
Maneet Puri is the Managing Director of LeXolution IT Services, a reputed IT Services company based in India. His company provides clients with an extensive array of KPO services that includes specialized services like virtual assistance, internet research data entry and data transcription services