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Medical Transcription Standard Recommended
Friday, December 14, 2007
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Should there be a Standard for all the finished medical transcription reports and documents? This was a question that did run into some controversies as some MT professionals felt they will lose valuable domain knowledge. The MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) was formed to give leadership to such transcription industry issues. MTIA along with AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) have recommended a standard unit of measure for medical transcription of patient medical records.
What was the need for such a standard? The goal of the project was to implement a standard for content measurement that health information management (HIM) practitioners can use to evaluate in-house transcription staff and external transcription service suppliers. The 65-character line standard (also called the AAMT line) had been a standard industry wide unit of measure for content measurement that includes space bar, shift key, bold, underscore, and other keystrokes. With this system the cost for the line/character goes beyond just labor as the cost of the technology is bundled along with domain knowledge and human resources. Thus it became mandatory to develop/choose the best possible Industry standard. What are the benefits of having a standard? They are,
- Better business relationships between healthcare organizations and medical transcription service organizations (MTSOs): Hospitals, physician practices, and clinics commonly outsource their transcription to MTSOs, which typically charge for services on a per-unit basis.
- Support of HIM departments in establishing and maintaining service level agreements; patient medical record transcription may be managed in-house by facility HIM staff or by an outside service supplier.
- Improved tools for evaluating and selecting transcription service providers: many suppliers have adopted unique line-counting or character counting definitions in order to differentiate them and stand out in a crowded field.
It has been recommended by the MTIA /AHIMA task force that among all the existing counting methods like ASCII line, the 65-character line, gross line, gross page, per minute pricing, and visible black character (VBC) measurement standards, VBC is the only counting method that can be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all parties in the medical transcription business processes.
Refer the MTIA whitepaper at http://www.mtia.com/downloads/StandardUnitOfMeasure.pdf
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional yet affordable outsourced services (both domestic and offshore) in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.
Labels: AHIMA, medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, MTIA, standards
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 11:07 PM
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AHDI / MTIA Advocacy Summit 2008
AHDI (Association of Healthcare Documentation Integrity) and MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) will conduct the third annual Advocacy Summit from May 15-17, 2008 at Rockville, MD. Registration can be done either for a single day or for all three days.
Are you a Healthcare Documentation Specialist and want to make your voice heard on Capitol Hill? This event is a great opportunity for professional medical transcription industry people and organizations who can learn how to schedule appointments with their legislators and will be exposed to the talking points to intelligently speak on the issues facing their profession.
The official Advocacy hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rockville, Washington, DC.
The Advocacy Summit is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2008 and morning of Friday, May 16, 2008 while the educational sessions are scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, May 19 2008 and Saturday, May 17, 2008. Take a look at the AHDI Advocacy Summit User's guide at http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/Downloads/AdvocacySummitUsersGuide08.pdf
MTIA members can avail discounted rates. For more details on the rates and registration for the Summit go to http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/AdvocacySummit.cfm
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers total solutions in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding. Labels: AHDI / MTIA Advocacy Summit 2008, medical transcription advocacy summit
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 6:49 PM
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Medical Transcription Industry Conference 2008
The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) will conduct their 19th annual conference, MTIA Conference 2008, in California from April 23-26, 2008. The venue is Hyatt Regency, the standout luxurious hotel in the Long Beach area.
Online registrations can be done at https://www.mtia.com/ConfReg08.cfm
Registration forms can be down loaded at http://www.mtia.com/downloads/Conf08RegForm.pdf
If you want to see all the other MTIA events that are scheduled for 2008 go to http://www.mtia.com/events.cfm
Contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI), the US based medical transcription company that offers total outsourcing solutions in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding.
Labels: medical billing, medical transcription conference, medical transcription industry association, MTIA Conference 2008, outsourcing
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 9:15 PM
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Medical Transcription and the Accuracy of Medical Documents
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The technique of medical writing is different from other writing as seen in literature or while writing essays or articles for publications. How is it different? 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 rewriting it several times like done by other writers, especially as they always have to work at a fast pace with a high level of accuracy. It is not expected of them to do any creative form of writing at all. However it is essential that a medical transcription should produce a clean and accurate transcription of the source document /dictation.
Adherence to prescribed or suggested stylistic guidelines as prescribed by the agency is very important. These can be vendor specific instructions with regards to editing, punctuation, or the grammar. However in the absence of any specific guide lines transcriptionists can follow the general rules as followed by other transcription professionals.
Challenges in transcribing mainly are seen because dictations are never ever close to being perfect. While dictating, doctors may even make mistaken or contradicting statements due to slip of tongue. Here it is up to the transcriptionist to be alert to all such issues and correct all such dictation mistakes done by the physician.
A sound knowledge of all medical terms and by listening and handling a wide variety of such dictations make a transcriptionist becomes experienced to face all types of audio files. But if a transcriptionist can keep listening to any particular physician on a regular basis and works on the same voice files then he/she can get quite used to a physican's personal style of dictation and can quickly produce a very accurate transcript.
The secret of the art of medical transcription is not in being aggressive but to be as subtle and careful as possible. Also it is very essential to have an attitude to impress and always 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 also know where to draw the line and must be careful never to overdo it.
Contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI) a US based medical transcription company that offers highly accurate services in medical coding, billing and transcription at affordable rates.
Labels: medical transcription, MT company, MT outsourcing, transcription accuracy, USA medical transcription company
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 6:24 PM
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Medical Transcription Jobs are in Demand
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
It is predicted that medical transcription professionals will be in demand and a lot of job openings will be available for them over the coming years. This is because there is this continuous growth of the health care sector triggered by the increase in the percentage of ageing population. So when more facilities come up it will mean generation of more health sector jobs including for the medical transcription professionals.
Where is the actual need for medical transcription generated in the health sector? Well there are various areas where the MTs can work. These include any place with medical facilities like,
- Hospitals
- Physician's office
- Transcription service provider's premises
- Diagnostic laboratories
- Business support service offices
No more is an MT's job restricted to offices. Many medical transcriptionists now prefer to work from the comfort of their homes. The digital technology and the Internet revolution has made it possible for MTs to now work from any global location as long as they are connected to the Internet. The working hours are also flexible as is found convenient to both parties.
Medical transcriptionists can be regular employees for hospitals working from homes or self styled contracted freelancers working on short term or long term projects.
A good MT professional must be certified and must either complete a 1 year certificate course or a 2 years associate's program. Some of the challenges faced by these MT professionals include, long work hours and stress and poor quality of audio recordings.
Current salary range for the medical transcription professional is from $10.00 to $20.00 per hour. MTs can evolve into editors and consultants or become instructors. As of today the future seems to be bright for those choosing to get into this field of work.
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers outsourcing services in medical billing, coding and transcription for clients in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
Labels: coding, India medical transcription, medical billing, MT services
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 8:03 PM
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