medical transcription services

The Salient Features of Medical Transcription and What To Look For In A Medical Transcription Service Provider?

medical transcription services

The healthcare industry is a trillion-dollar sector offering optimal medical care, immense scope for scientific research and a gamut of job opportunities. Adding to its dynamic nature are the latest discoveries in healthcare, incessant technological advancements, vaccine research, inventions and more. Leading medical practitioners, nurses, and other healthcare providers work round the clock to meet medical needs of patients. Oftentimes, they transcribe medical notes which adds to their work load. In a bid to ensure that healthcare professionals focus on their core competencies, a specialization, dedicated to error-free documentation of specialized healthcare industry language made its foray into the world of healthcare. Medical Transcription, as we know it today, is an integral part of the healthcare industry and it entails transcribing doctors` notes while ensuring precision-driven documentation and HIPAA compliance.

medical transcription services

Medical transcription services involve the seamless processing of a physician`s dictations and audio files into written documents. The quality of medical transcription service is of primordial importance to ensure that the data is free from errors. Leading medical transcription service providers have assisted the healthcare sector and added value to patient data management. Their diligent services have helped the healthcare industry maintain and manage patient records. They also offer quick deliverables, highest levels of accuracy, precision-driven services and competitive pricing. Since medical transcription services optimize healthcare data management, their services are in demand globally.

How Does Medical Transcription Service Work?

The process of medical transcription may be categorized into three main steps- dictation, recording and transcribing. The medical voice recording often includes patient histories, operative reports, and clinical notes to list a few. The notes are then dictated with the help of Dictaphones or voice recording hardware which is later uploaded on to a HIPAA compliant FTP of the medical transcription service provider.  The medical transcriptionist then reviews and provides error-free transcription services based on specific guidelines and converts the voice files into digital transcripts.

The key responsibilities of medical transcription service provider:

  • Interpret audio recordings and transcribe them to patient history, exam notes, discharge summaries and other reports.
  • Review the drafts prepared by speech recognition software to ensure accuracy and consistency and successfully translate medical abbreviations and jargons.
  • Follow up with the physicians and healthcare service provider to ensure accuracy of reports. Adhere to patient confidentiality guidelines and legal documentation requirements.
  • Ensure quality improvement audits and enter medical reports into electronic health records.

Read Also How Do Medical Transcription Service Providers Eliminate Transcription Errors?

Due to the present global crisis, the job responsibilities of medical transcription service providers will rise manifold. There will be a surge in patients needing medical attention to combat the virus, leading to a rise in demand for medical data management. Medical Transcriptionists will thus have humungous work load and a distinctive need for diligence while they process audio files, offering flawless transcripts. Owing to the surge in demand for documentation services, healthcare service providers are bound to opt for medical transcription services to streamline the process and maintain error-free records.

Healthcare service providers may choose a third-party transcription service provider or an in-house expert to follow up and maintain patient records, depending on the size of the medical practise. According to analysts, the medical transcriptionists associated with established firms will have an extremely challenging role with more healthcare service providers outsourcing transcription services to them as established organizations have an edge as they have years of experience, a well-trained team of experts and the ability to process data efficiently while meeting deadlines.

Advantages Of Opting For Medical Transcription Service Provider

outsource medical transcription services

The increasing number of patients and the corresponding rise in demand for medical transcription services has resulted in many successful transcription service providers offering flexible solutions and services to healthcare service providers. Leading healthcare service providers with bulk workload often choose to outsource medical transcription services that can give them the best results and help in generating robust medical documentation and patient records. However, when the demand rises, cost-efficient and flexible transcriptions services may also gain prominence as a customizable and budget-friendly solution for patient data management.

Over the years, medical transcription has evolved significantly and helped healthcare service providers manage enormous data with efficiency. A reliable transcription service provider is integral to the healthcare sector as precise patient notes assists medical professionals, helping them focus on the treatment procedure thereby enhancing productivity. During the course of treatment, easy access to detailed exam notes will help doctors and nurses with all the information they need to continue with the treatment.  

The advantages of choosing a reliable medical transcription service provider are manifold. In addition to ensuring quick turnaround time, reduced costs, reliable and professional documentation services, the healthcare service providers may also avail and maintain an up-to-date patient log that may be easily recovered when they choose professional services. They may also expect quicker deliverables made possible by a trained team of professionals.

What To Look For In A Medical Transcription Service Provider:

Owing to the costs involved, healthcare service providers ought to choose the most reliable services to avoid unwanted expenses. There are certain attributes that one must look for, while choosing the best medical transcription service provider. A few fundamentals can help avail the most optimal service.

Relevant Experience: Considering the years of experience will give you an idea of what to expect in the transcription services offered. Established medical transcription companies certainly have an edge when it comes to offering the best-in-class transcription services for precision-driven healthcare documentation. Greater accuracy and meticulousness are guaranteed with no extra costs making it ideal for healthcare institutions.

Useful Reviews: Once you know about the well known and established medical transcription service providers it is also good to learn more about their services through client feedback, online forums and sometimes through word of mouth reviews. Online reviews of medical transcription service providers will shed light on the past history and their track record.

Compliance: HIPAA compatibility includes a set of regulations that must be followed by health care providers in order to maintain confidentiality of the patient records. Failing to abide by the compliance norms may result in legal implications. Protecting patient information and following the HIPAA guidelines are important attributes of a reliable medical transcription service provider.

Healthcare Software Compatibility: EMR and EHR software are integral to the medical practise and it is extensively used to store patient records. Therefore, it is important to choose medical transcription services that will offer compatibility with EMR /EHR medical software packages which helps them link the transcription files to the right patient. This not only saves time but also gives the team more time to handle other documentation tasks.

Compatibility to a Wide Range of Audio Files: Audio file compatibility is one of the major factors that can impact the smooth functioning of the medical transcription services. The medical transcription service you choose should support audio file compatibility to suit medical practises and to ensure there are no discrepancies. Since healthcare service providers are in search of flexible solutions, it is integral to choose services that allow hassle-free recording of patient notes directly through telephone calls.  

Turnaround Time: Most medical transcription services have a turnaround time of about 24h to enable healthcare service providers to address the patients’ needs at the earliest. Some documents may require less time while some may take longer. Considering how significant the turnaround time is for your business, you may want to consider a service provider that can assure higher deliverability, consistency and flexibility. Yes, advanced services allow healthcare service providers and doctors’ offices to choose the turnaround time to ensure that customization is an option to align with the business needs.

Certification: The qualification and certification of medical transcription service providers are important in making the right business decisions.  The most ideal transcribers are the ones that have a working knowledge of transcription standards. Besides, they should be well-versed in medical terminology and HIPAA compliance. An enriching experience will ensure that they are able to pick up on the other aspects of transcription, including dialects, colloquialisms and other cultural nuances. This is certain to enhance the quality of the service.

Specialized terminologies: Most medical practises have their own specialized terminologies and if your practise is one of them, it is important to find a medical transcription service provider that can adapt to the use of non-standard terminologies and handle the documentation process with ease.  The transcriptionist must be able to comprehend the uncommon terms and deliver precision-driven service.

Quality Assurance: Maintaining the highest levels of accuracy is vital for a medical practise to thrive and achieve success. Most practises have multiple layers of quality checks to ensure higher levels of accuracy and unmatched deliverables. Some transcription service providers will allow you to choose the level of accuracy, adding flexibility to maintain robust medical data documentation. Multiple layers of fact checking may cost more but it offers better quality assurance. In addition to quality assurance, consider the costs involved to ascertain that you get good returns.

Technical advancement: Innovative technology and company`s financial stability are the other factors that help the services keep up with the rising demands. A robust technological infrastructure ensures that the deliverables are met and the activities are tracked to enhance flexible solutions.

Well-defined Billing Methodologies: The transcription industry has witnessed a multiple billing methodology and it can be a daunting task to choose one that is best suited for your practise. Besides, a multiple billing system adds to the confusion and may lead to delays and discrepancies. Hence, the billing methodologies should be clearly defined and verifiable.

Round the Clock Customer Service: Healthcare facilities may waste valuable time waiting to resolve issues. However, with a technical support staff that is available 24*7 they can work on issues and resolve them on time.  An amiable customer services is a combination of an efficient working system and trained employees to provide the most viable solutions for queries. Some services provide telephone, email, or direct messaging customer service options while others may limit you to fewer options.

Terms of contract: There are medical transcription service providers that require a contract to be signed. To ensure that you receive the best level of service, one can opt for a contract and prioritize the service. A written contract, emphasises a clear outline of potential penalties for not delivering the committed levels of performance. This also helps maintain the highest levels of accuracy.

Healthcare providers considering diligent transcription services, should choose services that meet their requirement. Most healthcare service providers opt for outsourcing medical transcription services as a solution to cater to large documentation needs. Outsourcing medical transcription services is a good way to reduce costs and get timely reports, diligent services and easily retrievable records.

Moreover, patient records may be professionally compiled and maintained to recover them at a later date. Outsourcing also offers huge benefits as it can accommodate unique needs and deliver at the committed timeframe. The services are HIPAA and HITECH compliant with a strong, well-trained, certified and experienced team of professionals. Besides, healthcare providers also stand to gain unmatched customer service, specialist consulting, diagnostic studies and more.

Who We Are and Why We Are an Authority:

MedBillingExperts` medical transcription outsourcing service is perfect to generate precision-driven healthcare documentation that enables physicians and other medical practises to focus on their core competencies. MedBillingExperts has a robust team of over 500 transcriptionists with years of experience in navigating the different nuances of medical transcription. Once the file is transcribed, we ensure that it goes through at least three levels of quality assurance checks to deliver 99.99% accurate transcriptions. The dedicated team of experts go the extra mile to compile the data and ensure that it is free from errors.

As an industry leader in providing error-free services, we undertake transcription only after the audio files have been thoroughly verified and scrutinized by our team of experts. At MedBillingExperts, we facilitate a harmonious collaboration between reviewers and transcriptionists to provide the most consistent services. Our medical transcription service is HIPAA compliant and may be easily integrated into the EMR of the healthcare service provider`s choice. We strive for perfection to bring business excellence to the healthcare sector through our reliable medical transcription services.

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