Medical Transcription Services: You Speak And We Will Transcribe

Remove your headache about documentation of patient’s records – Just contact us for your medical transcription requirements and we will do the rest.

If you don’t want to spend time in preparing documents regarding patient’s records and data, want someone to do it for you, then we are the best option for you. We offer accurate medical transcription services to doctors, practitioners and Hospitals at much lower cost than others.

Our medical transcription company is an international leader in providing Internet-enabled medical transcription and data management services to hospitals, clinics and physician offices. Our headquarters are based in Redwood City, California with European subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Our medical transcription services are as per HIPAA and DPA-compliant solutions.

Continued quality and accuracy throughout the lifecycle of the document make us a unique medical transcription company. To ensure that you receive the best quality services, we have added an extra tier within our QA model. After all, your satisfaction is our top priority.

To avail our services, use your DVR to capture your voice audio and then simply send it to us. Transcribers at our transcription centre listen to the voice audio files and prepare the associated text files with up to 99% quality accuracy. Our medical transcription services have more rapid turn around time than others.

Please contact us at: http://www.globalmeddata.net/new/Contact.asp for our medical transcription services or do email us at: info@globalmeddata.com for a free trial now.

Digital Dictation - Paperless Dictation

Law firms need to produce large quantities of documents and in many situations these documents need to be produced from dictation.Digital dictation devices streamline the process of producing documents from dictation. When these devices are portable, they enable fee earners to work on cases where and when they choose.

TeamTalk Mobile Digital Dictation from DPS Software stores documentation and dictation in a central workflow system against the relevant case file. Fee earners and secretaries can log on to the workflow system via the internet, from any location. Once users are logged on to the system, dictations can be amended pre‐transcription and fee earners can electronically monitor the progress of their transcription at any stage, from any location with internet access.

This functionality provides fee earners and secretaries with remote access for flexible and mobile amendment and monitoring of dictation jobs, not available with traditional forms of dictation.

Read more...

Medical Transcription Services: A Relief From Backlogs

Medical transcription services are preferred by the clients for getting the medical audios transcribed. Various service providers offer medical transcription services to the doctors, physicians and surgeons. Such service providers hire the experts who have excelled in medical field to transcribe the reports, audio of the medical contents into texts. A large number of patients are to be given the right kind of medication and for this physicians have to transcribe the medical audio so that they can give the effective medication to the patients.

Medical transcription services provided by expert service providers have numerous advantages. The most crucial function of the medical transcription is that they are effective due to their cost-effectiveness. Besides, files are managed in a very advanced manner which is needed for the rapid growth rate of the healthcare stream.

Besides, medical transcription services are necessary to carry out transcription related work to aid the physicians who keep busy in their schedule. Physicians require transcription work for their performance to get enhanced by the medical knowledge that is relevant and up to date.

At the medical transcription services providers' offices there are proficient editors and proofreaders who review the quality of transcripts before sending it as a final draft to the client. The use of updated technology is always helpful in error free output. Such companies always adhere to deadlines and always try offer customized service to all their customers. They are required to abide by the guidelines that are given to them by clients and even maintain confidentiality of the medical record/data of the client.

Medical transcription service that the service providers offer ensures that experts in this field should not lack behind and feel burdened by work. This service has a high multitude of the aspirants who are taking transcription as their career.

Medical transcription is the method which is useful for maintaining patient records by transcribing the audio records of the discussion or the medical discussion between a patient and doctor or heath care expert into text version. There are numerous qualified professionals who have learnt the skills of medical field can contribute to the medical transcription services.

Read more...

Medical Transcription Services: MT Services At GMD Services Ltd

GMD Services Ltd is a prominent medical transcription company and it has successfully provided medical transcription services to worldwide customers with rapid TAT.

GMD Services Ltd is an authenticated medical transcription company in the USA and is an international leader in providing Internet-enabled medical transcription and data management services to hospitals, clinics and physician offices.

Its global headquarters are based in Redwood City, California with European subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Software development and technical support centres are based in US, UK & India, making this a truly global 24/7 operation.

It provides accurate medical transcription services. Its HIPAA and DPA-compliant medical transcription solutions leverage leading Internet technologies and the world’s most highly credentialed transcribers to provide easier, more secure, accurate and cost-effective transcription.

GMD Services Ltd aims for providing documents that are a minimum of 98.5% accurate. Its quality assurance (QA) procedures are governed by the guidelines issued by the American Association of Medical Transcription (AAMT).

Some of the advantages of GMD Services Ltd’s transcription services are as follow:
• Immediate ROI
• Improvements to Revenue and Productivity
• Reduction of Overhead
• Customization to Your Requirements
• Flexibility - Dictation can be recorded at any time or place
• Fast Turnaround - Dependant on urgency, Turn-Around Time (TAT) is 12, 24 or 48 hours

For more information about GMD Services Ltd, please visit: http://www.globalmeddata.net or email at: info@globalmeddata.com

Medical Transcription Services: Hire Medical Transcription Experts

Hire medical transcription experts for top quality medical transcription services in quick time. Email us now for more details.

We at GlobalMedData Transcription services, provide excellent medical transcription services with rapid TAT. Out services are as per International Standards and follow medical transcription guidelines.

About GlobalMedData Transcription Services:

GlobalMedData Transcription Services is a well known medical transcription company and has been providing excellent services over the years with maximum client satisfaction. Our clients are mostly hospitals, clinics and physician offices. Our headquarters are based in Redwood City, California with European subsidiary in the United Kingdom.

About Our Medical Transcription Experts:

Our medical transcription experts are well experienced and have thorough knowledge about medical transcription codes and standards. They possess successful record of submitting accurate medical transcripts as per voice files sent by doctors or other medical professionals.

About Our Medical Transcription Services:

Our entirely web-based infrastructure attached with the worldwide hold up from our staff in the US, UK, India and Philippines, has allowed our medical transcription services to be enormously efficient and flexible.

Some of the advantages of our precise medical transcription services are as follow:
• Immediate ROI
• Improvements to Revenue and Productivity
• Reduction of Overhead
• Customization to Your Requirements
• Flexibility
• Fast Turnaround

So don’t wait much. Just contact us at: http://www.globalmeddata.net/new/Contact.asp or reach us at: info@globalmeddata.com to hire our medical transcription experts.

Why Medical Transcription? What Medical Transcription Is About

In today's rapidly growing Healthcare Industry, medical transcription is becoming more and more used option by healthcare professionals. Whether you are running a medical firm or an individual medical practitioner, it has become essential to use medical transcription in order to save your precious time.

What is medical transcription?

One of the most common questions if you are a beginner in this industry is - what is medical transcription. It is associated with healthcare business and in which it deals with the process of transcription or in other words, converting pre-recorded voice files as dictated by healthcare professionals into a document form.

Documents prepared by transcription covers certain information like patient evaluation, workup, healing actions, medical course, analysis and more. These all details are as per doctor's dictation or say as per doctor's words.

Why medical transcription?

Now when we are aware about it, let's see why it is required? It is required due to need of documentation regarding medication processes for medical insurance. One more reason is that nowadays, medical professionals are becoming busier and busier. They don't get much time for such documentation due to their practices.

In such cases, transcription plays an important role. Doctor just speaks into a tape-recorder and then sends these voice files to an MT. That provider converts it into a document format and returns to that doctor.

What is the process about?

There are three steps of it.
1) Dictation
2) Transcription
3) Result

For dictation, doctors use their DVR to capture their voice audio. Then simply they attach that DVR to a computer where your audio-file will be automatically uploaded and sent to an MT expert. Then expert transcriptionist listens to the voice audio files and prepares the associated text documents with quality & accuracy. After that, the resultant documents are dispatched to that particular doctor.

For more information about medical transcription, please contact us at: https://www.globalmeddata.net

Read more...

HIPAA Rights

The HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed by congress in 1996 in order to provide HIPAA rights or protection for employees when they change jobs or are involuntarily terminated from their job. The Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act was also designed to prevent health care fraud and to insure that the Department Health and Human Services establish rules that enhance health care system efficiency.

There are many facets to HIPAA and several moving parts to establishing HIPAA requirements. The most common Hippa rights subject matter is contained within Title One and Title Two of the HIPAA act.

Title One: Title one of HIPAA was enacted for the standardization of group health plans as well as certain individual health policies. Title one places regulations on restrictions that group plans can place on benefits for pre-existing conditions. The country would be a beautiful place if no one ever got sick. Unfortunately, we know that sickness is inevitable.

Group insurers are allowed to place 12-18 month "exclusions" of coverage on certain pre-existing conditions. Simply put a group insurer may offer group coverage for an individual. However, the insurer may delay coverage for a condition that existed prior to plan enrollment.

Title one of the Health Insurance Portability act protects the insurance seeker in that it does not allow insurers to place exclusions on pre-existing conditions if the insurance seeker had creditable coverage for a period prior to enrollment in the new plan. If there is an exclusion period, HIPAA decreases exclusion periods by the length of time that an insurance seeker had creditable coverage. For the sake of clarity of medical insurance portability an example is provided below:

John has recently been laid off from a job he has had for three years. John has had health insurance coverage through his employer's group health plan for the entire three-year period. John has been treated for a medical condition just 3 weeks prior to being terminated.

HIPAA requirements insure that if John is hired to a new job and subsequently applying for health coverage under a new group health plan, the insurer may not place an exclusion period of 12 months on John's pre-existing condition because he has had creditable group health plan coverage for at least a 12 month period prior to new plan enrollment.

Title Two: Title Two of HIPAA protects HIPAA rights by assigning penalties associated with offenses related to health care. HIPAA rights are further protected under Title Two with the creation of programs that target controlling fraud within the health care system. HIPAA requirements include rules to be drafted to increase the overall effectiveness of the health care system by creating criteria for the distribution of health care information.

The Department of Health and Human Services defines the entities that must comply with HIPAA requirements. Entities include health care providers, health plans and health care billing services that transmit medical information and health records.

The Department of Health and Human Services has disseminated five rules that are incorporated in Title Two of HIPAA. Privacy Rule, Transactions and Code Sets Rule, Security Rule, the Unique Rule and the Enforcement Rule. For more information regarding specific HIPAA rules see HIPAA rules at the Texas Low Cost Health Insurance web site.

Read more..

Medical Transcription? Outsourcing May Lower Costs and Improve Quality

Want to organize physicians' handwritten notes and prescriptions into electronic documents without spending a fortune? An outsourced medical transcription service is the perfect solution for you.

All medical institutions require computerization of medical notes for clean and compact record-keeping, insurance claims processing, quick reference, conferencing and various other reasons. Hospitals and clinics have long been hiring full time transcriptionists to do the same. But this is an expensive option and not the ideal solution if you have varying volume of transcription needs.

Alternatively, you can give transcription duties to other clerical staff or use voice recognition software. But these solutions can be quite inaccurate, putting the health of your patients at stake. Your clerical staff may not be well trained for medical transcription and accuracy of voice recognition usually is too low to be useful. A medical transcription service gives you the best combination of expense, quality and accuracy.

How does a medical transcription service work?

* Physicians dictate their notes into a recording device, usually a toll-free phone line or handheld digital recorder. Most medical transcription services support both these methods. Some services also accept recorded cassettes. Mp3 is the preferred sound format when using digital recorders, though other formats can also be used.
* The recorded information is then sent to the medical transcription service provider. Information security during transfer is critical. Your patients' personal information must not be leaked out at any cost. Digital recordings are submitted via the Internet. This can be done using a secure web site and file transfer protocol (FTP) using custom software from the provider, or even through encrypted email. In case of a toll-free line, the information is directly recorded on the providers' servers.
* The recorded notes are then transcribed and returned to the hospital or clinic. Information is usually returned as word files, though other formats like pdf can also be specified. Delivery methods include secure web sites, FTP, custom software, encrypted email and in some cases fax.

More comprehensive medical transcription services are also available. They offer an online system that stores both the audio files and transcripts, organizes them by date, doctor, or patient, and keeps track of progress as they are being transcribed. These services are more expensive but offer substantial management benefits.

Important Considerations

Accuracy: The returned work must have accuracy close to 100 per cent. Select a medical transcription service that employs experienced and skilled medical transcriptionists and quality assurance professionals who review the transcriptions before delivering them to you. Your doctors should review and evaluate each transcript on delivery to prevent any damage to your patients' health and well-being.

Turnaround Time: It refers to the maximum time within which medical transcripts will be delivered to you after submitting the audio recordings. Most medical transcription services offer a turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours. Most also include a STAT service that allows you to specify a turnaround time of one-, two- or four-hours at an additional cost. Different types of notes can have different turnaround times.

Security: Medical transcription services are subject to HIPAA rules about patient confidentiality. The industry standard for internet security is 128-bit SSL security. Physical security at the provider location is also important. Careful employee screening and tracking is essential. Audit trails can assist in tracking employees. An audit trail keeps track of each individual who accesses a given set of notes and the modifications they make.

Sound Quality: Good quality of sound recording is essential for performance. Digital handheld recorders provide better sound, though they carry an additional hardware cost. Some medical transcription services charge lower prices if you provide them with better quality recordings.

Location of Service: Many medical transcription services use both domestic and international transcriptionists. There is generally no difference in quality and accuracy between the domestic and outsourced services. Having transcription teams all around the world enables the service providers to meet deadlines. You will most like pay more for service if you insist on using medical transcriptionists located in a developed country like the US.

How much will you have to pay?

You are charged per line of text. The industry standard is 65 characters in a single line including spaces. Some service providers however, include lesser number of characters in a single line. Price usually ranges from $.05 to $.20 per line. Before you hire a vendor, compare price quote from multiple medical transcription services at a B2B Marketplace. Also ask your friends and other doctors for recommendations.

Most medical transcription service providers offer free trial runs. Carefully assess the providers' ability to meet deadlines, the accuracy of transcripts, and ease of interaction with their customer service representatives during the trial run. Many providers assign a dedicated team of transcriptionists for long term contracts and also offer lower prices. Carefully evaluate your requirements, the providers and the available services before making a decision.

Read more...

Medical Transcription And the Accuracy of Medical Documents

The technique of medical writing is different from other writing like as seen in literature or essay/article writing for publications. How is it different? These are some of the typical features seen in medical writing:

* Has lots of abbreviations
* Have brief forms
* Shortcut language /word coinage

Medical transcriptionists do not have to bring out a polished document, or rewrite it several times like it is done by the other writers, especially when they have to work at a fast pace and still cannot afford to make any mistake on the job. It is not expected of them to do any creative form of writing at all, but a high level of accuracy in transcription is almost mandatory. It is also essential that a medical transcriptionist should produce a clean and accurate transcription of the source document /dictation.

Adherence to prescribed or suggested stylistic guidelines as prescribed by any specific agency is very important. These are usually the vendor specific instructions with regards to editing, punctuation, or the grammar. However in the absence of any specific guide lines, transcriptionists may follow the general medical transcription rules that is followed by other transcription professionals.

Medical transcription work is usually a bit challenging all the time mainly because dictations can very rarely be called perfect. This is understandable. An hospital environment is a real world and a dynamic place with many things happening. While dictating, doctors may even make some simple mistake or even make incorrect dictation due to the slip of tongue.

Remember for the physician giving dictation is not his real objective. However the regular habit of giving dictations and extended experience will bring forth a high degree of accuracy in his dictations. It is up to the medical transcriptionist to be alert to all the relevant issues and he must be able to correct all the "slip of the tongue" dictation mistakes made by the physician.

A sound knowledge of medical terms and experience in handling a wide range of dictations make a transcriptionist fit enough to face any types of audio files. But if a transcriptionist can preferably keep listening to one particular physician on a regular basis and get works on his voice files then he/she can get quite used to that physican's personal style of dictation. This kind of orientation can produce a highly accurate transcript.

The secret of the art of medical transcription is not in being aggressive but to become as subtle as possible with the work. Also it is basic to develop an attitude that tries to impress and get a favorable response from the dictator. Having a keen sense of awareness/ alertness to the possible mistakes in dictations along with good listening skills will go a long way in becoming a successful MT professional. However while editing a dictation, one must know where to draw the line without guess work and basic doubts must be referred back to the concerned doctor.

Read more..

ASTM Standards For Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription is about skilled human beings listening to dictations by physicians and typing up every word to make it into a recorded document/transcript. They must obviously have a proper understanding of medical terms and be able to understand most medical jargon and just cannot afford to make any errors.

Besides the human skills factor in transcription there are other factors too that contribute to the ultimate quality of medical transcription. There are four basic factors that determine the quality of a transcript. They are,
# Dictation

# Transcriptionist skill

# System Management

# Components of Quality assurance

An organization called ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) has been responsible for developing the Standard Guide for a Quality Assurance Program for Medical Transcription. ASTM International is over a century old organization and was originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials. It is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world.

There are seven ASTM standards that are very important to the medical transcription industry and for proper healthcare documentation. These standards can ensure accuracy, security, and patient confidentiality during the maintenance, transmission, storage, and also during the retrieval process of healthcare documentation.

The ASTM E2117 - 06 is a Standard Guide for Identification and Establishment of a Quality Assurance Program for Medical Transcription. Similarly there is the WK10383 which is the New Standard Guide for Medical Transcription Workstations and this guide will help to make informed decisions related to the design of an efficient medical transcription work environment compliant with federal regulatory agencies.

And there is also a Standard Guide for Requests for Proposals Regarding Medical Transcription Services for Healthcare Institutions. More details are available at the ASTM website.

With medical transcription outsourcing becoming a common procedure today the importance of International Standards in medical transcription cannot be ignored and all industry standards have to be met.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Outsourcing - Points to Be Considered During Outsourcing

Outsourcing medical transcription is a prudent business decision and helps the healthcare facility focus totally on their core business while providing the right support. However the outsourcing decision is not one to be taken lightly and needs a thorough analysis of what the healthcare facility hopes to gain from the outsourcing decision. To make sure that everybody in the healthcare facility is comfortable with the outsourcing decision it is important for the healthcare facility to ask itself some questions:

1. Is this activity part of the core business of the healthcare facility? Creating patient medical records is not part of the core business of a healthcare facility though it does play an important role in the operational and commercial aspects of a healthcare facility. It is a specialized skill requiring a combination of the right team, the right technology and process to be able to meet the criteria of being accurate, timely, secure and cost effective.
2. How much is it costing currently? Having this activity in-house could be costing the healthcare facility more than what they originally would have estimated. While calculating cost of in-house transcription factors like these should be taken into consideration:
* Overheads
* Allocation of management & administration staff for managing in house creation of patient transcripts
* Wastage of resources during slack times
* Overtime pay during excess inflow of work
* Extra pay for weekend and holiday transcription
3. What are the other resources being used? In-house medical transcription could also involve usage of resources like secretaries, Information Technology staff, capital equipment etc.
4. What are the accuracy levels and turnaround time of transcripts? In-house creation of patient medical records could result in varied levels of accuracy due to the varying volumes of transcription. The accuracy levels could be high when volumes are low and low when volumes are high. The turnaround time could also similarly vary depending on the volume of transcription. The turnaround time being shorter during slack periods and vice versa during periods with high volumes.
5. Is it important to retain this activity in-house? There are certain factors like concerns for security of the data that could be a hurdle to the outsourcing decision. Choosing a service provider with measures in place to secure people, processes and technology can eliminate security concerns and remove any hurdles to the outsourcing process.
6. What are the alternate options available? Healthcare facilities have the option of outsourcing their overflow transcription needs to a combination of independent contractors or professional transcription vendors. This could however result in the healthcare facility having to put in more efforts to coordinate this function from various resources. The easy fix to ensure that transcripts are created in a timely, accurate, secure and cost effective manner is to outsource the whole activity on a turnkey basis to a professional service provider
7. What is the cost of outsourcing? Outsourcing ensures that the cost of transcription is restricted to the cost per line of transcription. Initially the healthcare facility may have to have a minimum outlay towards finalizing the service provider and adapting to the technology used by the service provider.
8. What are pitfalls of outsourcing medical transcription? The common pitfalls while outsourcing a function as vital as this is the fear of poor quality and security concerns. Another major concern is that the price quoted by the service provider may have hidden costs. Both these concerns can be overcome by choosing a service provider who has the right team in place to meet quality concerns, has adequate measures in place to ensure total security and uses a billing method that is measurable, verifiable, definable, consistent and fair& honest.
9. What is the value addition in outsourcing? Outsourcing medical transcription provides the healthcare facility with many value added services like technology that offers multiple benefits like different modes of document delivery, archives making it easy to trace transcripts in different stages, specialty medical transcription etc.
10. What about the transition to outsourced services? Transition from in-house transcription to outsourced services can be eased when the service provider has open channels for customer service. This would enable the service provider to solve minor issues as and when they crop up.
11. What about existing investments in EMR? Existing investments is EMR/EHR can be protected if the medical transcription service provider has the capability for HL7 interface enabling data to be transmitted to the EMR/EHR system.
12. What are the options available to capture dictation? This is a main concern for time starved healthcare professionals, this concern can be overcome by choosing a service provider who allows the healthcare professionals to retain their familiar modes for capturing dictation.

The process of outsourcing medical transcription can become easier by choosing a service provider who alleviates these fears/doubts that may rise during the outsourcing process.

Read more..

Performing Medical Transcription From Home - Legit Opportunity?

More often than not, most work-from-home opportunities are scams on one or more levels and they come in all shapes and sizes. The sole focus of this article is to share one such legitimate opportunity with you.

Forget about "stuffing envelopes;" most "data entry opportunities," "assembling products from home," and by all means, ignore all of the headlines you see everywhere about how you can make $30,000 per month by only working 30-minutes per week, as well as other outrageous claims.

In the same breath, don't be fooled by the majority of "Christian work-from-home" business opportunities, as most of them are scams as well. There are many unscrupulous individuals who use the word "Christian" as a preface to hopefully earn your trust and suck you in, and it happens day-in and day-out!

Admittedly, some of the scams out there are very well hidden, while others are just blatantly obvious to the everyday normal and prudent person, or they at least should be. But, if you're one of those everyday normal and prudent people who fell for what should have been a "too good to be true" business opportunity, don't beat yourself up too badly because millions upon millions of other educated and intelligent people just like you have been duped as well.

After all, it's human nature to want to make the most amount of money that we can by doing the least amount of work possible, isn't it?

If you're sick and tired of all of the scams and the hype, and you truly believe in working for a living, then welcome to the legitimate world of medical transcription!

Medical transcription is a highly specialized field, and it's certainly not for people who don't want to learn, nor is it for people who don't truly want to work for a living. The work is incredibly challenging; often-times tedious, and you need to achieve an accuracy rate of at least 98% in your transcriptions or you won't last too long in this business.

Another name for a medical transcriptionist is that of a "medical language specialist."

On the flip-side however, medical transcription can be one of the most interesting and educational fields you'll ever work in, especially if you have a real interest in medicine!

Medical transcription is one of the few jobs/careers where you can actually work from the comfort of your own home and make a reasonable living, if that's the route you'd like to go.

Maybe you've run across ads in the past, touting that you can make $30,000 -$45,000 or more per year working as a medical transcriptionist from the comfort of your own home? Those ads are legitimate and the earning potential is extremely accurate.

Naturally, some medical transcriptionists make considerably less, while others make considerably more; it depends on your experience, geographical location in some instances, how fast you can accurately transcribe a dictation, and also who you work for! Becoming a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) may also play a part in increasing your income by 15% - 20% as well, but certification in this field is not really required like it now is for medical coding!

Education Requirements

You can realistically have a second grade education, or you can have a graduate degree for all that it really matters, though it helps tremendously to have at least a high school diploma or a GED certificate.

Training Requirements

Some doctors offices or even some very small clinics might take you on as an apprentice, but that really depends on your geographical location for the most part and how great the need is for a transcriptionist. Again, this is a highly specialized field, so this would be a rare opportunity if it did present itself, as there is an awful lot of knowledge to be learned prior to going to work as a transcriptionist.

You should expect in-depth training in everything from medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, disease processes, the very basics of chemistry, to an overview of pharmacology, so that you can be in a better position to decipher and transcribe lab results and prescribed medications, and the list goes on and on. When you finally start doing medical transcriptions, you'll soon come to appreciate why you spent so many hours learning everything that you were required to learn to do this job.

Fortunately though, there are special software programs geared specifically to this industry, and they are well-worth the investment.

There are numerous private schools (both online and classroom) which teach medical transcription, as well as many community colleges and adult education centers, and they all have their own curriculum and methods of teaching. Some of these schools are fully accredited and some are not, so you'll need to do your homework, as some schools are far better and more intense than others. The best medical transcription schools will probably take up upwards of 12-months to complete, but they're worth it in the long-term.

A viable starting point would be to contact "The American Association for Medical Transcription," and they'll be happy to point you in the right direction based on your wants, needs and circumstances, as well as answer any questions which you may have about this career field. The AAMT is an independent association and not affiliated with any schools or medical transcription companies, so you know you'll be receiving some highly objective advice.

And when you're doing your due diligence, don't be afraid to contact a variety of actual medical Transcription companies and find out what schools they recommend as well for those who are trying to break into the medical transcription field. Many of these companies prefer to hire graduates from certain learning institutions over other schools because of the schools' reputation for putting-out knowledgeable and experienced graduates.

Compensation

First and foremost, it depends on where you choose to work as an MT and in some instances, what your geographical location is.

There are two primary ways of being compensated in this industry: either being paid by the hour or by the number of 65-character lines you produce, and many (online) transcription companies will require a minimum of x-number of lines per hour or per shift, unless you act as a freelance medical transcriptionist, though even as a freelancer, you may be tasked with a quota as well.

Starting out, you may only be paid 4 cents - 6 cents per line, and that's because a transcription company doesn't want to invest too much money in you until they see how productive and accurate you are. You'll also receive a lot of invaluable advice and some help along the way through these online MT companies as well. Listen to what these people have to tell you, because they've usually been in the business for years and years, and they started-out just like you did.

So after you've slaved away for a year or so and received some solid training and experience, how much can you realistically make? Again...depending on your geographical location and a few other factors, you can expect to make $30,000 - $45,000 per year and even more in some cases, but you need to explore your many options.

And yes...there are even quite a number of highly experienced medical transcriptionists out there who specialize in certain medical specialties and make $75,000 - $100,000+ per year, but they all have a good 10 -15+ years of experience, and they're the best at what they do! Generally speaking, these are not classified as typical earnings.

It should also be noted that if you want to work from home for a medical transcription company, that many of the larger companies do provide an assortment of benefits, such as medical and dental coverage, paid vacations, etc.

Do not be intimidated by the thought of losing your MT job due to the voice recognition software which is currently on the market, as MT companies and hospitals have found that this software has proven time and time again to be more trouble than it's worth and has not saved them any money at all. Another great aspect of this business, is that the work load is not dictated by how the economy is doing.

Another solid point about medical transcription, is that men have just as many opportunities as women in this field, and similar to that of the nursing field...if you're not working in your chosen field, it's because you're choosing not to work. There will always be a gross shortage of good and highly-trained transcriptionists, so the career outlook in this field is quite stable for generations to come.

Read more..

Medical Transcription - Its Past, Present, and Future

Medical Transcription has become a common term today and is about human beings listening and typing out physician dictations. Technological advances have always defined the medical transcription process. It will continue to be so and one wonders what the future could bring for the medical transcription professional.

Looking back into the past history of medical transcription one has to mention about the clumsy medical record keeping methods of yesteryears. All early records were hand written medical records that were highly abbreviated because it was quickly written /scribbled by the physician who was also actually treating the patient.

Files kept in wooden filing cabinets, that consisted of collections of handwritten notes/scribbles along with typed documents had to be physically retrieved from shelves every time the physician wanted to have a second look at them. Further development for years just involved the duplication of medical records /documents using carbon paper. (I remember doing it myself)

Medical transcription need not actually only be associated with insurance claiming. Storage of medical records by transcription must have begun ever since computers came into use. It was the equivalent of stenography and writing in shorthand the dictations of business.

We know various automation systems had started evolving right from the year 1960. Computer systems were not useful enough for years to be used in transcribing records in the medical / health sector. Only much later in the early 90s did actual medical transcription come into existence.

Today when we talk of medical transcription it automatically encompasses infrastructure, the desktop computer, the Internet, digital transmission, information systems, PDAs, dictation systems, foot pedals, headphones and more.

The evolution toward the electronic patient record and HIPAA compliance is forcing everyone to catch up with technology and there is no looking back. Globalization has enabled the medical transcription professional to even sit at home and work for clients who may be located anywhere else on the globe or beyond.

The current developments in VRS (voice recognition software) and its evolution may some day totally automate and even remove the human element in the medical transcription process. Medical transcriptionist (MT) is already happy enough to just edit the documents produced by the VRS.

Future, technology may grow to replace the human element and medical transcription can mean just another chip on a board. (I don't mean to be sarcastic). But then we still value art don't we? Like a hand printed dress or antique furniture, manual medical transcription work will have its value and may become more precious. Won't it?

Read more..

Medical Transcription - A Glamorous Lucrative Career

What is medical transcription?

The process of transcribing doctor-dictated dictations for the purposes of documentation as a medical record is simply termed as medical transcription. The person who transcribes the dictations into a document is a medical transcriptionist or a medical transcription professional.

The process originated in the West. The person who did this job used to be called as a medical assistant who used to be with the doctor at the hospital writing down notes instructed by him. Advancement of this process is electronic conversion of the dictations.

Why and who?

For insurance purposes and maintenance of medical records. The major player outsourcing medical transcription work is USA. Canada, UK, and Australia have some. The outsourced countries include India, Philippines, Indonesia to name a few among others.

The medical transcription professional needs a wide knowledge of medical terminology, American English, and critical thinking skills that may help him/her to interpret what is dictated to produce accurate documents. The dictator speaks over a hand-held device called a Dictaphone or a electronic recorder or a device which has a 1-button solution to upload his voice into the server. The transcriber downloads them at his location through a server that is provided to him by the organization he works for. He then transcribes the dictations into medico legal document.

Why outsourcing?

Medical transcription happens to be one of the earliest BPO jobs outsourced to India. Indians have strong English communicating skills due to the curriculum followed from the days pre-independence. The time difference of 12 hours between India and USA makes it easier for the doctors/clinics to have their reports on their table at their next visit to the clinic. Furthermore, cost of labor is much cheaper for the outsourcer.

Potential?

Medical transcription has a strong employment in both India and the United States. One can work for a company that serves for the Healthcare Industry. The model also involves working at home as independent contractors. In India, the independent home transcriptionist model is growing to gain much popularity.

It is said, still a larger portion of the work is still to be outsourced from US. Both NASSCOM in India and the US Department of Labor have identified this career as having a higher growth potential year by year.

Earnings potential?

As far as the money making is concerned, the fresher in medical transcription earns a starting salary approximately around Rs. 5000 and after 2 years of experience, his money making capability goes to around Rs. 15,000. Careers advancement can lead him to become an Editor or a Leader of a team in a company which could fetch him around Rs.20,000 or more. In these days of growing population and a means to earn money, this is quite decent for an Indian standard.

Allied careers?

Medical coding and billing are showing up as allied careers related to medical transcription.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Service - Tools For Cost Comparison

A quality medical transcription service company can help you reduce operating costs, increase productivity and improve patient care. While there are many things to consider when choosing a transcription provider, this article will discuss how costs are calculated and provide you with tools for cost comparison.

When it comes to choosing a medical transcription service company, give preference to those who will take the time to fully explain how they charge for medical transcription so that you can compare "apples to apples" when evaluating your choices. Most physician practices are surprised to learn there are many ways a medical transcription service charges per line.

How does a Service Provider Calculate Costs?

Medical transcription service can be billed many different ways. Medical transcription providers have been known to calculate rates based on the page, report, minute, word, gross line, character, keystroke and other metrics. All of these methods are highly variable and can dramatically affect the per line rate. It is important that you understand exactly how you will be billed.

Some of the most popular methods of billing include:
- ASCII Line
- ASCII Line 65-Character
- 65-Character Line
- Gross Line
- Gross Page
- Per Minute
- Visible Black Character
-...and many others

How Can I Compare Transcription Service Costs and Choose the Right Company for my Practice?

Over the years, providers have used a variety of methods to calculate lines of transcription and some have become very creative. Unfortunately that leaves you to determine if you're actually getting the best price for your transcription services. Most medical transcription service companies charge per line of text. Some may define lines with fewer characters or count each hard line break as a new line, so be sure to get all of the details.

One of the best ways to compare transcription costs is to provide each of the companies in consideration with a sample document. Have them price it out for you so that you can see how they distribute their rates. Remember, though, that because of varying per line rates and counting methods, the lower price won't always be the better choice.

Find out what other services are included in the rate. For example, some medical transcription service companies will charge for headers, font changes or hard returns, while others will include these services at no additional cost.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Offers Real Typing Jobs

Medical transcription jobs from home provide legitimate typing jobs. Because of the aging population, the need for health care services has increased. This in turn has increased the need for medical transcriptionists and there is a lot of work available in this field.

Medical transcription jobs includes working for individual doctors at physician's offices, hospitals, and a variety of healthcare facilities, insurance companies, legal offices, research centers, laboratories, government medical facilities, and other organizations. However, you are not restricted to working in an office, and many transcriptionists work from home either as freelancers or employees.

When freelancing or working from home, you can charge slightly higher fees than medical transcriptionists working in an office because clients do not have to pay employee benefits. They set their own hours and can choose to work part time or full time.

The person who transcribes the dictation is called a medical transcriptionist, typists, medical word processors and medical secretaries. They use a transcription machine and a word processing program to transcribe dictation into a typed document. When transcribing digital recordings, they use a specialized foot pedal and software.

What kind of work will you do as a medical transcriptionist? You simply transcribe or type dictated information into a word processing program.

The health professional dictates the patient information into a recorder or through a phone dictation system. Medical transcriptionists transcribe this information into a typed document. The transcribed documents are sent back to the dictator as a digital file or hard copy for verification and approval and they become part of a patient's permanent medical record.

What skills do you need? You need to be familiar with many medical specialties and must be able to produce accurate transcription. The finished transcription work or transcribed documents provide legal documentation of patient care. They are needed for insurance reimbursement, litigation and scientific research.

To get medical transcription jobs, you will need to be proficient with medical terminology and you may need to have formal medical transcription training. As health records contain patients' personal information and medical information, transcriptionists must keep all information confidential.

How do you start getting medical transcription work from home?

You can receive and send transcription work through the Internet, making it possible to work from any location. Many medical transcriptionists can work from home either as independent contractors or home-based employees.

Client for transcription from home jobs may include medical professionals, physicians, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and insurance companies. It may be easier to start by working for larger medical transcription service offices. Some individual transcriptionists may be open to helping you get started.

You may be able to find clients advertising, through the Internet and online job sites and freelance sites.

If you want to do transcription work from home as an employee, you are more likely to get work from home from an employer you have worked for in an office previously.

If you're looking for legitimate typing work from home, consider medical transcription. It's one of the best home typing jobs from home and there is plenty of work available.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Service For Healthcare Management Companies

Recognized medical transcription companies provide safe and reliable, customized medical transcription service for healthcare management companies, hospitals, outpatient clinics, and individual physicians.

Transcription services are available for death summaries, patient histories, ER reports, clinic notes, consultation reports, referrals, laboratory summaries, medical billing, verifications, authorizations, medical coding and patient scheduling.

Ensures High Accuracy Rates in Transcription Service

With the help of trained and experienced staff, MT companies convert voice files into text format. Transcription services are available for a number of medical specialties including orthopedics, gastroenterology, radiology, cardiology, podiatry, internal medicine, chiropractic,and more.

To ensure high accuracy rates in medical transcription, the companies keep in-house proofreaders, editors and quality analysts. Besides promising high quality in transcription services, companies offer Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. HIPAA compliant companies safeguard clients' privacy and confidentiality as per the norms of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Web-based Transcription Service Allows Online Reviews

One of the major advantages of hiring a MT company is that clients are given convenient choices to submit their dictations. These include digital recorders, toll free numbers and computer based dictations. Web-based transcription system allows online reviews and editing. MT companies use HL 7 transcription interface and document flow management software to ensure complete solutions.

Advanced technical devices and expert personnel together help medical transcription companies offer value added services for healthcare management companies with a high accuracy rate of 99% within customized turnaround times. Depending on the requirements of the clients, short term and long term services can be availed of.

Read more..

Outsourcing Medical Transcription Helps Reduce Management Expenses

Many health care facilities may not be aware that management expenses form a major cost component of in-house transcription

When the cost of in-house medical transcription is computed one of the cost components that are often overlooked is the cost of managing the in-house medical transcription needs. Managing medical transcription in-house would typically involve the following management activities:

Sourcing the right people: This would involve advertising for people and assessing the quality of people before recruiting them as transcriptionists

Sourcing equipment: This would involve assessing the equipment requirements (including computers, listening devices, foot pedals, printers, stationery etc.) And then acquiring them for the right price

Sourcing technology: The technology required for starting up medical transcription like software for routing, firewalls, encryptions, uploading, downloading and archival features etc need to be assessed and acquired

Space allocation: There would be certain space needs for carrying out transcription work in-house this needs to be assessed and allocated

Training the people: People need to be trained on the work requirements and procedures to be followed etc.

Once the resources are in place then the next step is execution of the work which involves the following steps:

Collection of dictation: Dictation of records by doctors needs to be collected in a centralized place for further processing

Allocation of dictation: Dictated audio files need to be allocated to medical transcriptionists so that they commence with their work

Supervising the medical transcription work: Work once collected and allocated needs to be supervised to make sure that it is being executed according to the required standards

Assessing quality: Accuracy/quality of transcribed documents needs to be assessed to minimize errors

Assessing turnaround time: Turnaround time of reports is very important for the treatment of patients, record keeping and managing receivables etc. hence turnaround time schedules have to be maintained

Ensuring security: Transcription would entail transmission of confidential files of patients back and forth, care has to be taken to make sure that all the channels of transmission are secure and HIPAA/HITECH compliant

Collecting all the transcribed files: All the finished files need to be compiled at one central server for transmission back to the concerned doctors for their records and further use

Obtaining feedback: Feedback on the quality of reports along with any special formats required needs to be collected from the doctors and communicated to the transcriptionists for implementation

Updating/training medical transcriptionists on latest developments: Medical field has new developments on a daily basis in terms of drugs, treatments etc, medical transcriptionists need to be constantly updated about these developments

Making arrangements for holiday/emergency medical transcription requirements: Due to unpredictability of patient inflow and staff fluctuations during holidays etc arrangements have to be made so that transcription needs are taken care of during these times

Maintaining archives: Archiving of medical reports for easy access in case of future reference for various purposes

Arranging Repairs and maintenance for all equipments to prevent breakdowns: Repairs and maintenance of transcription equipments is a constant process required for the smooth execution of transcription work

The vast array of management activities required to execute transcription in-house will add to the cost per line of transcription. When the transcription needs are outsourced, effectively all the management costs and activities associated with in-house transcription will be outsourced. Assessing the medical transcription service provider on the basis of quality/accuracy, pricing, turnaround time and data security is important before making the outsourcing decision.

Read more..

Starting a Medical Transcription Business

Medical transcription is one of the few hot careers of this decade. With aging population and decreasing workforce, never before has the shortage of medical transcriptionists been so evident. This gives an opportunity to explore medical transcription business to strike it big and to strike at right time.

With tough times and economic slowdown, venturing in to any business is a difficult proposition. However, you will be amazed to know how easily you can start your own transcription business without a big hole in your pocket. So what do you require to start a home-based medical transcription business? Well, to be true, not much.

With good knowledge of transcription, starting a home-based business should be very simple. Some important things to consider before starting this business are the initial investments, requisite training, marketing, profitability, and time management. Let us know more in details about each of these.

Investment in transcription is not huge. You require a good computer, printer, fax machine, earphones, foot controls, audio recorders and software required for transcription. These include Stedman, drug dictionary, English dictionary, FTP, audio convertors, audio players, office software and some others. Basically, standard office equipment is what you will need to start with. As the business is home based, you again save on the rent and other miscellaneous expenses.

Training in medical transcription usually requires a period of 4 to 6 months with many courses available on the internet these days; some of them available online too. The fee for learning medical transcription is not too high either. By investing around 5 to 6 hours a day for a period of 4 to 6 months, you can easily become a good transcriptionist.

Most of the transcriptionists are able to work independently by the time they finish their course and so should you. With proper guidance and knowledge, you should be able to work on all sorts of audio transcription and be ready to start your own business after completion of your course.

Every business requires efficient marketing to propel the revenues and get a strong client base. Though medical transcription business also requires marketing, it is certainly not at the same level, as do most other businesses. Most of the time marketing would involve telephone calls and personal meetings.

Being a home-based business, you just require 2 or 3 good clients to support and grow your business. Again, one saves a lot of money in marketing this business as compared to others.

Read more..

Medical Transcription - The Myths and Truths

In recent times there have been many myths and misconceptions regarding medical transcription, giving it a bad press. Given below are a few myths:

* Medical transcription is easy and anybody can be a transcriptionist: This is a common myth about transcription, given that entry into this profession is relatively easy. No formal qualifications are required except for an aptitude for the English language, good keyboard skills and a keen ear. In spite of the easy entry to qualify as a medical transcriptionist, a person has to go through extensive training in medical terminology, procedures and drugs. This profession also requires a person to constantly educate themselves on the latest developments in the medical field

* Medical transcription is just a data entry service: Transcription is a service, which requires attributes like good listening, applying context when in doubt and an extensive knowledge base to draw from unlike data entry. Moreover transcription goes beyond just a data entry service by having additional benefits like effective report distribution, archiving and adding value to the healthcare facility in terms of reducing staff burden, reducing capital investment in medical transcription, and freeing up resources like utilities and real estate.

* Medical transcription can be replaced with voice recognition software: Voice recognition software is software that automatically converts the dictation of the healthcare professional into a typed text. On the face of this, it sounds like the answer to the transcription needs of a healthcare facility.

But this software is not easy to use due to the following reasons:

1. The software has to be 'taught' to recognize the voice of the user and terminology used
2. A healthcare professional has to dramatically slow down his usual way of dictation and speak in a structured way, including punctuation etc., resulting in loss of productivity of the healthcare professional.
3. In spite of all these preparations the accuracy of the voice recognition software has been found to be only 60%-80%.

Because of such low accuracy levels the need for transcriptionists arises to proof read the reports and edit them to bring them up to the desired level of accuracy.

Outsourcing transcription is time consuming: Outsourcing transcription can be made easy and quick by analyzing the specific needs of the healthcare facility and evaluating a prospective service provider by these attributes. A quick way to assess the service provider is through:

1. Methods of quality assessment
2. Billing method used
3. Technology used
4. Measures for ensuring HIPAA/HITECH compliance
5. Training methods used
6. Assessing if all the work in done in-house or through the use of sub-contractors.
7. Testimonials
8. Free trial

Read more..

The Pros and Cons of a Medical Transcription Job

Transcription involves the converting of a voice recording into a written hard copy. These oral recordings could be discussions during a meeting, speeches, court proceedings, surgical procedures, or any type of question and answer sessions between two individuals, which could contain important data that has to be stored. Of the different types of Transcription jobs available, the segment known as Medical Transcription is the one that has a lot of work to offer. Other Transcription jobs available relate to Legal Transcription services, and General Transcription services.

Medical Transcription, as the name implies, relates to transcribing medical data. These are primarily case diagnoses of patients or surgical procedures. It may involve conversations with the patient, the doctor's analysis of the medical condition, and other details relating to the disease.

There are softwares that can transcribe oral information into soft copies but given the nature of medical terminologies, a software might need to be improved quite a lot before it can grasp the nuances of language involved in the medical terms. As of now, the recognition system of a human mind is required to translate the type of medical information contained in these recordings. To be adept at doing Medical Transcription, an individual should have good listening skills, accurate and fast typing skills, and a basic idea of medical systems and the terminology involved in it.

Those who are completely unfamiliar with the medical world will have to take courses in order to become a part of any Medical Transcription services. Medical Transcription is a job that has deadlines, and usually a Transcription has to be submitted within 24 hours. As in every other job, ease and fluency will have to come with time.

If you are finding yourself comfortable with the job, you can even take advanced courses that might contain more difficult terminologies and more descriptive medical information. This is a field where workers are always needed, and the more adept you become in the field, the more your will be in demand.

Different levels of Medical Transcription courses are available to familiarize fresh aspirants with the names and functionality of the medical world. A basic course will have to done to get started in the Medical Transcription services field. Once you get the grip of things, it will be much easier, and you will develop speed and accuracy with time.

You can work at night, or during day, as your prefer. It is a type of flexibility that a regular office job would never allow. And if you are a woman, you can attend to household chores at chosen intervals, without in any way disturbing the work schedule. You can also do the job at your own pace. And all these advantages of flexible timings, freedom from commuting, and working at one's own pace, apply to a man also.

Read more..

Medical Transcription and Voice Recognition

Medical transcription (MT) assignments are one of the highly acclaimed outsourced jobs in the healthcare industry and are mainly aimed at enabling US and UK based healthcare providers to have cost-effective solutions in maintaining day-to-day patient records.

In the competitive healthcare arena where medical facilities are finding it difficult and expensive to maintain their own in-house transcription facilities, having these jobs outsourced spells huge savings in cost and effort. All major medical transcription service providers are now offering their medical transcription and voice recognition services in a highly customized and time-bound manner.

Voice recognition technology has a key role to play in medical transcription services and is one of the major advancements being made in the transcription sector. Voice recognition technology uses computers to recognize doctors’ dictations but current technologies are not capable of providing 100% accuracy in the transcribed documents and hence all documents generated using voice recognition technologies still require manual proofreading to maintain the high accuracy levels required.

Almost all medical transcription facilities are now offering their services in accordance with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations. These regulations ensure that all online transactions involving patient records are done in a safe and secure manner. The archival facilities provided by transcription firms are highly beneficial to clients as retrieval and transmission of patient records in future will be much easier.

To have accurate documentation of medical reports, most MT facilities have employed highly skilled and trained transcriptionists. The proofreaders and editors working in these medical transcription facilities make sure that all processed records maintain high accuracy levels of up to 99%. Most of these medical transcription facilities take care to update the knowledge base of their employees so that they remain well informed about the latest developments in medical treatments and medicines. This helps them handle their jobs easily and accurately.

The medical transcription facilities also have a number of related services for their clients which include medical coding and medical billing. To provide benefits for the healthcare industry on the whole, most medical transcription providers are now offering their services for a wide range of healthcare clients.

Healthcare clients in the US who are heavily dependent on medical transcription and voice recognition services include private practitioners, hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities and acute care centers. Medical transcription firms provide their services for short term as well as long term requirements and hence all categories of medical care providers are ensured smooth functioning and timely completion of assigned jobs.

Read more..

Medical Transcription - A Profession Whose Time Has Come

Medical Transcription is the process of interpreting and transcribing the dictation made by healthcare professionals, such as doctors, regarding patient status, treatment procedures, prognoses, diagnoses etc.

The Medical Transcriptionist may also edit the text that is produced by voice recognition software, and requires extensive knowledge of medical pharmacological and anatomical terms.

Medical Transcriptionists in the past would listen to dictations and type it themselves, but with voice recognition software this has become mostly unnecessary. Today the medical transcriptionist usually just edits the output of the software which can range from a few corrections to major changes, because voice recognition software still has not been perfected.

The purpose of medical transcription and the medical transcriptionist remains the same as it was in earlier times, to keep a record of a patient's medical status and treatment. Ancient medical transcription has been noted as writing on ancient cave walls and in documents of lost civilizations.

Not until the late 20th century was Medical Transcription recognized as a profession. Prior to that those that did Medical Transcription were given menial labels such as typists, medical secretaries, dictating machine operators, or word processors.

For those who practice medical transcription, this was and is a highly unjustified job title since the profession requires a wide knowledge of highly technical medical terms. Thus, in 1999, MedicalTranscription was assigned its own job classification and those practicing it were officially called Medical Transcriptionists.

The profession of Medical Transcription has basically been underground, and most people have not heard about it. Nonetheless, Medical Transcription is essential in the ever growing health care industry.

Health care staff do not have the time to write every single bit of information they gather from patients. As a result, the demand for qualified Medical Transcriptionist professionals is rapidly growing, in addition to the fact of the increasing numbers of new medical procedures coming into the mainstream, doctors simply don't have the time to personally transcribe all their findings.

The profession of Medical Transcription is very versatile as well. After a few years of education, Medical Transcriptionists can acquire work from medical transcription firms who receive dictations made by doctors and turn these orders over to medical transcriptionists to be transcribed.

As part of that versatility, a Medical Transcriptionist may be able to work full or part-time from home. The American Association for Medical Transcription is the governing body in the United States that certifies Medical Transcriptionists.
Although you may not need certification to work as one, a certification from the AAMT will certainly increase you're "market value" and credibility.

Medical Transcription has grown out of its infancy of merely listening and transcribing the words dictated by a doctor. Medical Transcription has matured and now requires specific education and knowledge regarding medical language, Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes, physical anatomy, physiology, disease processes, medical science and procedures, medical instruments, pharmacology, laboratory instruments, laboratory test results, medical reference material techniques and many, many more.

Read more..

Future of Medical Transcription

With the demand for quality medical transcription services rising, medical transcription (MT) outsourcing jobs seem to have a bright and secure future. Medical transcription is the most outsourced job in the healthcare industry and is provided with the aim of reducing both time and cost factors involved in the daily documenting of patient details. As the healthcare industry in the United States is closely associated with insurance firms, time-bound processing of patient records is essential for the smooth functioning of both healthcare and insurance firms.

Almost all US based healthcare facilities find medical transcription outsourcing to be highly beneficial and these services have now become an integral part of their daily functioning. By outsourcing these jobs, healthcare providers can concentrate more on providing better infrastructure and facilities for patients and have to worry less about hiring and training medical transcriptionists. With most transcription facilities functioning according to HIPAA regulations, all patient records remain secure, confident and safe.

To produce good quality patient records, most of these healthcare firms have employed highly skilled and experienced professionals in medical transcription, and their skills and knowledge play a key role in the success of these transcription firms. For new recruits, professional training is being given to achieve higher accuracy levels demanded by the industry. With the help of in-house language experts and proofreaders, most processed patient documents maintain high accuracy levels of up to 99%.

Now both established as well as new entrants in the healthcare industry including hospitals, clinics and private practitioners are aware of the benefits of medical transcription outsourcing and hence are moving towards these services. Most MT providers offer related services such as medical coding and medical billing for their healthcare clients.

India and Philippines are two emerging powers in the medical transcription field and are set to become the hub of future medical transcription jobs. The availability of a vast pool of graduates who are computer-literate and fluent in English and the turnaround time of 24 hrs for submitting assignments, are factors working in favor of the growth of medical transcription firms in these countries.

Right from its initial stages, the medical transcription industry has been undergoing revolutionary changes regarding the equipments and technologies used. From the initial typewriters and Dictaphone transcribers to high end computers, the medical transcription industry is always moving with the latest trends in technology. The quality in operations and the flexibility of the industry in adopting new technologies all ensure that the medical transcription community will have a long and bright future.

Read more..

Why Medical Transcription Works

Medical transcription is one of the most widely outsourced works in the healthcare industry. Its services can consistently give a company the combined unique experience of accuracy, data security and absolute privacy for its records and documents. This transcription field may actually be the greatest beneficiary of outsourced transcription services.

It is the service most often provided by transcription service providers across the world. Currently, a growing number of medical providers send their dictation by digital voice files, utilizing a method of transcription called speech or voice recognition. Medical transcriptionists listen to dictation recordings by doctors and healthcare practitioners, and convert them into medical reports, medical correspondence, discharge papers, autopsy reports, etc.

A medical transcriptionist, unlike a general transcriptionist, must understand medical terminology and be able to decipher medical abbreviations. Due to the increasing demand to document medical records, countries are now outsourcing the services of medical transcription.

This type of transcription has undergone tremendous progress because of constant advances in communication and Internet technology. Outsourcing it has proved to be an extremely popular and profitable option for the medical industry. The direct and immediate advantage of outsourcing medical transcription is cost reduction, reliability in turnaround time and total security. When a company outsources this transcription, it no longer has to own a dictation system or worry about upgrading to the latest equipment.

In fact, all its capital expenses for supporting dictation and transcription are greatly reduced. Outsourcing it also work as backup copies of patient data. This is because they are always available at the servers of these outsourcing companies and so it is easier to search and access patient records. With outsourcing a company will be benefited with the following:

o It can retain focus on its core activities by increasing its efficiency in patient care.
o Eliminate the drawbacks of paperwork.
o HIPAA compliance
o Significantly reduces its overhead costs.
o Improve revenue within its department

Today there are extensive transcription services that are available that cover all kind of the specialties in medicine. It is growing day by day and is being provided to a wide range of practices and organizations that can include healthcare facilities, hospitals, laboratories, clinics, individual doctors and physicians' groups. Outsourcing companies are able to provide customized transcription services according to the needs of the clients.

There are as many medical transcription services as there are medical specialties and medical documents: radiology transcription, microbiology transcription, pathology transcription, cardiology transcription, medical review transcription, H&P reports transcription, surgery notes transcription, lab reports transcription, etc.

Read more..

Remote Medical Transcription Services

In the competitive healthcare arena, remote medical transcription services have great significance. Every healthcare facility, whether small or large, has to maintain proper and consistent healthcare documentation. Even though the demand for medical transcription has gone up steadily over the years, there has been a lack of skilled and trained personnel in key areas of medical transcription.

Nowadays, many healthcare practices in the US are finding it difficult to maintain the medical records of patients. As there is critical shortage of medical transcription workforce, many healthcare providers face a serious situation in which they do not get patients’ records transcribed on time, usually in times of emergency. In such situations, remote medical transcription services are the best option.

Excellent remote medical transcription services are now offered by many medical transcription firms, where the medical transcription specialists work from remote locations, even from their own homes. As this line of service is of great help for healthcare facilities, it is now being availed by medical facilities and establishments of all sizes including hospitals, professional practices, pain clinics, and others in the field, in all medical specialties. As per the needs of clients, remote medical transcriptionists transcribe the medical records dictated by doctors and others, including history and physical reports, discharge summaries, clinic notes, office notes, consultation notes, operative reports, x-ray reports, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports, pathology reports, and more.

By availing of the remote medical transcription services, you can gain many competitive advantages and benefits in terms of higher output and turnaround time.

Apart from these initial benefits, other benefits that can be gained include:

• Superior work product
• HIPAA compliant transcription practices
• 24x7 customer support service
• Cost-effective rates
• Security and confidentiality
• Customer satisfaction

Almost all MT (medical transcription) firms employ quality controllers to maintain the excellence of the remote medical transcription works. To provide the services in an efficient way and to stay competitive, the companies are committed to maintaining the latest technologies and equipments.

If you are in search for an MT firm that can offer remote medical transcription services, the internet is the best place to start your search. Before making a choice, it is better to conduct some research in terms of turnaround times and costs.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Companies in USA

As the demand for medical transcription work is increasing at a rapid rate, medical transcription companies are mushrooming in the USA. Medical transcription is a necessity in all healthcare facilities, whether they are clinics, hospitals, or other organizations. Medical transcription companies in the USA occupy a unique niche in the medical transcription field. No matter where you are located in the USA, these firms can help your practice in every stage of transcription process – all from dictation capture to document distribution.

Most of the medical transcription companies in the USA can provide superior quality, accurate medical transcription services as they employ highly skilled and experienced medical transcriptionists on staff. Moreover, these services are mostly cost-effective to cater to all kinds of budgets. These companies take care to apply and maintain up-to-date digital technologies to provide value-added transcription services.

In the USA, medical transcription companies provide services in almost all medical specialties. Professionals in these firms can undertake transcription of various medical reports including cardiology reports, operative reports, patient discharge summaries, emergency room reports, history and physical examination reports, chart notes, medical evaluations, peer reviews, psychiatric evaluations, x-ray reports and many more.

The greatest advantage of availing of the medical transcription services from a standard MT firm in the USA is that you can get access to accurate and efficient services within fast turnaround time. Apart from this, other benefits that you can gain include:

• 99% accuracy
• Security and confidentiality of the medical records and documents
• Three-tier quality checking with assured high quality work
• HIPAA compliant medical transcription services
• Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution
• Total dictation and transcription solution

If you need a complete medical transcription solution or if you are considering outsourcing your medical transcription assignments, you will be able to find medical transcription companies online that can meet your needs. If you are interested in finding a standard medical transcription company in the USA, there are some important considerations that you need to take into account before making your choice. It is an excellent idea to conduct some research on your own in order to get the best deals.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Introduction

Introduction to Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription is the process of converting voice dictation (typically either cassette or digital format) into a permanent written record utilizing word processing equipment and software.

Each day in hospitals all over the country, thousands of patients are admitted and discharged. Examinations are conducted, procedures are performed and recommendations are made. It is not uncommon for multiple physicians to be involved in a simple procedure for a single patient. Radiologists, Pathologists, Anesthesiologists, Surgeons, and a host of other medical specialists must all coordinate their efforts to ensure that patient care is both adequate and appropriate.

Underpinning all of these activities is a complex web of medical and patient information. Each patient-related activity and procedure must be meticulously documented and then added to the patient's permanent record. Physicians and medical record handlers alike must be extremely careful to ensure that detailed patient identification information accompanies each procedure and examination report to avert potentially disastrous mix-ups. Over time, all of this information accumulates in a centralized medical records repository where it serves as a critical resource for patient care - facilitating accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatments. Indeed, timely patient care often hinges on the ability of Radiology, Pathology, and other specialty departments to quickly conduct their examinations and report their findings.

Evolution and History of Medical Transcription

In the past, patient medical charts consisted of a series of abbreviated handwritten notes that were funneled into the patient's file for interpretation by the primary physician responsible for diagnosing ailments and prescribing treatment. Ultimately, this hodge-podge of handwritten notes and typed reports was consolidated into a single patient file and physically stored along with thousands of other patient records in a wall of filing cabinets in the medical records department.

Whenever the need arose to review the records of a specific patient, the patient's file would be retrieved from the filing cabinet and delivered to the requesting physician. To enhance this manual process, many medical record documents were produced in duplicate or triplicate by means of carbon copy.

In recent years things have changed considerably. Walls of filing cabinets have given way to desktop computers connected to powerful mainframe systems where patient records are prepared and archived digitally. This digital format allows for immediate remote retrieval by any physician who is authorized to review the patient information. Reports are stored electronically and printed selectively as the need arises.

While the transition from a paper based to an electronic format will take years to complete, considerable progress has been made. Handwritten reports are largely a thing of the past. Verbal dictation is now by far the most common method for documenting and reporting the results of examinations and procedures. Physicians generally use either a cassette based voice dictation system or a digital voice dictation system to record their findings. Dictating reports verbally not only allows physicians to be more thorough in their reporting, it also saves them a great deal of time. The Wall Street Journal recently reported the results of a study conducted by the Association of Legal Administrators suggesting that verbal dictation is the fastest way to create a document. The study states that "a 245-word document takes 9.34 minutes to create with an electronic dictaphone, compared with 16.46 minutes on a personal computer and 16.49 minutes by hand." (WSJ, Tuesday, October 22, 1996, page A1, column 5). Given the salaries of most physicians, the cumulative productivity savings associated with these technological enhancements is considerable.

The process of converting voice dictation to a typewritten format is known as transcription. Traditionally a staff of skilled medical transcriptionists working in the medical records department of the hospital has accomplished the work of transcribing medical records. In the early years of medical transcription it was not uncommon for very large hospitals to have staffs of 40 or 50 medical transcriptionists working one or more shifts. A transcription supervisor, who in turn reported to the Medical Records Director, generally oversaw these transcriptionists.

The Medical Transcription Outsourcing Trend

Increasingly, traditional hospitals are coming under competitive attack by more efficient managed care organizations. In an effort to remain competitive, many hospitals have turned to outsourcing as a means of cutting costs. Many of the processes that were previously performed internally are now being contracted out to third parties. Medical transcription is no exception. The outsourcing of transcription and other functions relieves hospitals of the administrative headaches and overhead burdens associated with internal production and allows them to focus their attention on improving service and lowering costs.

This new competitive climate has driven many hospitals out of business. Those organizations that have survived have done so by becoming more efficient and cost-conscious. There is considerable evidence to suggest that contracting out medical transcription is a much less costly alternative to producing reports internally. Most savvy healthcare providers today understand this and are responding appropriately. The significant cost-cutting pressures which continue to drive the industry toward consolidation, managed care and capitation virtually guarantee that the outsourcing trend will not only continue but accelerate in coming years.

This proliferation of outsourcing agreements has spawned a new generation of small medical transcription companies intent on carving out a piece of the pie. Interestingly, in spite of its rapid growth, the medical transcription industry is still considered a cottage industry. While there are a few truly national players, the industry is at this point still dominated by the hundreds of small local transcription companies located wherever hospitals are found.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Practice Tapes: Ways to Achieve Proficiency in Medical Transcription

Medical transcription is one of the most popular home businesses and is always high on the list of those who want to work at home. Running your own medical transcription business involves typing medical notes, including a history and physical, operative reports, follow up reports etc., so that the physician has detailed information about that patient. The physician also needs a medical transcript to send to the insurance companies so he/she can be reimbursed for services rendered.

A keen sense of hearing is an ace in the game of medical transcription. A typical hearing acuity alone will not assure a 100% accuracy in the medical transcripts you produce. If you wish to master the art of medical transcription, you need to have a well-developed sense of hearing. In this field, you can't afford to make mistakes when you're typing what the doctor says. This is because there is a very thin line between each word's pronunciation as with the terms "a rock" and "Iraq". And, in a case like this, slight misheards could mean a difference between life and death especially when you're dealing with the patients' medicines. We all know that it's hard to find a medical transcriptionist who is born with an excellent sense of hearing. But, it does come with practice. You have a lot of potential to achieve good listening skills. As we always say "practice makes perfect". You can start training your ears by watching English TV shows or by talking to different kinds of people and study their voice patterns and pronunciations. Also, you can start listening to the varying accents in English of American, Australian, British, Mexican, or Indian doctors. Really, it's your choice. Although, the best approach is exposure to real physician dictations, you can also enhance yourself through the use of medical transcription practice tapes.

But what are medical transcription practice tapes? Actually, medical transcription practice tapes are recording and storage devices used by doctors for their dictations, which are converted as wav or voice files in the computer just like that of an mp3. But, there are also those medical transcription practice tapes being used by students in some medical transcription schools, which may be bought online. They are not really that different from those used by physicians except for the fact that they are utilized for a specific purpose. Medical transcription practice tapes as the name implies are only used for practice and not for actual transcription. They either contain simulated or real physician dictations. Medical transcription practice tapes are for the use of beginners who have no exposure to real physician dictations as well as for already established medical transcriptionists who just want to attain a higher level of competency in the field.

Although medical transcription practice tapes may be rented, the best option for beginners is perhaps to have a copy of their own. These days, you need not go to a specific store to purchase medical transcription practice tapes. They are available online from several websites that specialize in medical transcription. They usually come in two sizes, that is standard-sized medical transcription practice tapes and micro-sized medical transcription practice tapes.

The duration of dictation for these medical transcription practice tapes and the level of the terms' difficulty vary as well. As an added feature, answer keys are provided to compare your work with.

Whoever said you can't learn on your own must be bluffing. Medical transcription practice tapes can truly make a difference in your performance, although it is necessary to have medical terminology skills beforehand. In fact, for beginners, early exposure to actual dictations could give you the edge you need, and for seasoned transcriptionists, or people going back into the field of medical transcription, the extra practice will definitely improve the skills necessary to become a true medical language specialist.

Read more..

Medical Transcription Outsourcing Benefits

Medical transcription is one of the most widely outsourced jobs in the healthcare industry and is adopted as a part of easing the tedious process of medical records documentation. Processing of medical transcription jobs in-house means medical care providers have to invest a lot in terms of time and money for selecting and training the right manpower, apart from installing and maintaining costly infrastructure such as dictation equipments and computers. To keep operating costs low, outsourcing of medical transcription is the preferred choice for most healthcare firms operating in the US and UK.

A key factor that persuades developed economies such as the US to outsource their medical transcription jobs to developing countries such as India and the Philippines is the availability of cheap and qualified labor in these countries. The medical transcription firms in these countries have better infrastructures with backups for labor and internet and are thus capable of providing round-the-clock uninterrupted transcription services. The skills of medical transcriptionists in these countries include a better understanding of the spoken English language. The majority of these professionals have excellent academic qualifications and in-depth awareness of the subject.

Experienced trainers including doctors and language experts serving in medical transcription firms ensure that all their professionals are well trained in understanding medical terminologies including foreign dialects and medical terms. The intensive training provided at these outsourcing companies guarantees quality and speed. To ensure maximum accuracy in transcription jobs, all these transcription facilities have experienced editors and proofreaders. These firms also take special effort to update the knowledge base of their employees so that they are aware of the latest advanced medical treatments and medicines available in the market.

Another major benefit of outsourcing these medical transcription jobs is that backup copies of patient records are always available at the servers of these outsourcing companies and hence it is easier to search and access patient records which are years old. Moreover, these documents can be sent across multiple destinations through the internet so that doctors, regardless of their location can keep in touch with their patients and their medical treatments.

With affordable services being provided in a time-bound manner, all healthcare firms including hospitals, outpatient clinics, long term care facilities, nursing facilities, and individual physicians can now rely on these firms for smooth functioning. Today, most medical transcription providers make available other related services such as medical coding and patient bill processing. Thus with these medical transcription service providers ensuring flexible, fast and economic transcription services, medical care providers can concentrate on their core services and serve the needs of patients much better.

Read more..
TSDW5KFT7VPS