Medical Transcription The Process of Evaluation
July 26th, 2010 Filed under: Outsourcing —
Medical transcription is a function that supports the healthcare profession, creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter by transcribing audio files into text format. When it comes to outsourcing it is important to partner with the right vendor who can create quality transcripts seamlessly. Because medical transcription is a service rather than a tangible product it is important to understand what are the standards that make it great.
What comprises great service?
It would comprise of the following features:
- Timely
- Continuous
- Flexible to meet varying demands
- Of good quality consistently
- Reasonably priced
- Maintain confidentiality
- Easy to avail
- Lessen the burden of the user/s significantly
All the above criteria apply to outsourced medical transcription services. It is important to understand the significance of each criterion while evaluating them.
Timely: Medical transcription is an important component of both the operational and commercial aspects of healthcare, by creating records and by accelerating the receivable cycle. Therefore it is important that the vendor have a time line for delivery. Turnaround time of finished transcripts committed play a significant role in evaluating the provider.
Continuous: These services need to be a continuous process, as the influx of patients is not a one-time occurrence but a continuous process and records need to be created on a continuous basis.
Flexible: Though the inflow of patients availing healthcare is continuous, it is not consistent. The inflow could vary based on many factors that cannot be predicted or planned for. Therefore the process of creating patient records need to be flexible to meet the varying needs of healthcare facilities based on the inflow.
Quality: Patient records are part of the healthcare process, having varied uses like the basis of further treatment/referrals etc., evidence for litigation, part of permanent record, forming the basis for coding and billing. It is important that these records contain information that is accurate. Therefore while outsourcing, evaluating quality of outcome is one of the most important factors.
Reasonably priced: One of the main benefits of outsourcing is to avail the cost saving benefits. It is important to examine the quote offered by the vendor, in detail while outsourcing, taking into consideration the billing method used by the provider.
Secure: While outsourcing it is important to evaluate the service provider on the basis of the measures taken by them to secure confidential patient information. It is important to evaluate the measures taken to secure technology, infrastructure, processes and the people used for transcription.
Easy to use: The service of creating patient transcripts is used by the healthcare professionals for whom time is a precious commodity. It is important to choose a vendor who uses the right technology to provide multiple benefits and easy usage.
Investment free: Healthcare facilities are constantly trying to juggle limited resources to meet multiple demands. In such a scenario it is important that outsourcing should ease the burden of healthcare facilities by eliminating related expenses like Information technology, real estate, utilities, equipments etc.
TransDyne, a leader in the outsourced medical transcription industry offers customized medical transcription solutions tailored to suit the needs of healthcare facilities. Visit http://www.transdyne.com for more details. Click http://www.transdyne.com/html/contactus.aspx to avail medical transcription services from TransDyne.
