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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Possibilities in Medical Transcription Files Delivery
If you have outsourced your medical transcription work either domestically or to an offshore country, it is important that you receive back the finished transcripts in time. This is possible only when the system is well planned and organized. There are different technologies and methods that one can choose from. Depending on the available infrastructure and the convenience, expenses, time available and other factors, we must adopted from one of the below mentioned methods for getting back the finished transcription files.
Here is a list of the seven different delivery possibilities;
- As Paper documents
- By e-mail
- Modem transfer
- Web access method
- By fax
- TASP
- By FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Needless to say the paper documents /transcripts can be delivered physically by post or courier if it is preferred by the client. If your client is on the same floor and wants the attested transcripts physically delivered as paper documents then that is a possibility. I have personally delivered attested transcripts for a client who waited for me in court where the transcript had to be presented within 24 hrs.
Email is an option for delivery only when you are dealing with a small client and when time is not an important factor. However sending files via e-mail require 128 bit encryption so that all sensitive patient information is always kept secure and confidential.
In the modem-to-modem transfer method, files are transferred from a computer directly via phone lines into a database ata hospital/clinic. Factors to be considered while adopting the modem transfer method should include,
- Modem speed
- Firewall /network penetration
- Phone charges
The web access method is similar to the secure socket layer method that is used by banks. This type of access is given only to selected personnel within a large medical facility/hospital. It is a very easy method of access using various search criteria and in web browser. The records can even be edited using the originally dictated voice file.
The TASP (Transcription Application Service Provider) provides end-to-end technology solution from the physician to the MTSO (or hospital transcription manager) to the medical transcriptionist and back, all with a high level of security and work flow automation. It invests in servers, firewalls, and software / security technologies, including T1 voice and data connectivity.
In the FTP methods, files are either "pushed" or "pulled" from one PC to the other using the Internet. Using just the local Internet connection this method helps in avoiding telephone charges. The transcription company will have installed a transcription database into which files are delivered.
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a USD based medical transcription company that offers highly secure and affordable outsourcing solutions in medical coding, medical billing and medical transcription.Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, medical transcription files delivery, medical transcription outsourcing services
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 7:04 PM
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Thursday, February 14, 2008
What is Osteopath Medical Transcription?
There is a rising demand for preventive healthcare and a holistic approach to medicine in the world today. But, often we find that there is still confusion in understanding the difference between allopathic, osteopathic and chiropractic practices of medicine. Actually Osteopathic medicine is an American medical care system that was started in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O. This form of healthcare has its emphasis on the role of musculoskeletal system in health and disease. Take a look at the website of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfmIn the United States, an osteopath (or an osteopathic physician) must be a graduate of one of the nation's osteopathic medical schools. Each school is accredited by the AOA and has recognition by the U.S. Department of Education. Thus Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.s) are fully licensed medical physicians and surgeons and do practice all clinical specialties along with their M.D. colleagues. However, they are trained to be generalists first, and specialists second. Osteopaths being one of the fastest growing segments of healthcare professionals in the United States, it is estimated that, by 2020 at least 100,000 osteopathic physicians will be in active medical practice.No wonder more and more medical transcription professionals are specializing in the field of Osteopathy medical transcription. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is practiced by osteopathic physicians and involves the use of hands to diagnose illness and injury and encourages the body's natural tendency toward good health. Along with all other available medical options, Osteopathy physicians are able to offer the most comprehensive care available in medicine today. Here is a list of all the different osteopathic associations: http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=lcl_assocOutsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional services in medical coding, medical billing and osteopathy medical transcription services. Labels: American Osteopathy Association, AOA, medical coding, medical transcription, Osteopath medical transcription, osteopathy transcription
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 7:50 PM
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Monday, February 11, 2008
Medical Transcription Tools and Equipment
Medical transcription has evolved over the years and has always made use of the cutting edge technologies. Many different tools/equipment get used during the medical transcription process. Here is a list of the different tools/ software and equipment that are used either during home based medical transcription or at a bigger work unit that may consist of transcriptionists, editors, Quality Assurance, leaders etc. This list of equipment and tools is not exhaustive.
- MP3 playback software
- Document processor software (like LYX)
- Version Control software
- Time markers
- Bud microphone
- Digital voice recorder
- Headphone
- Computer with Internet/PrinterDesk and comfortable chair
- AAMT Book of StyleEncryption software
- File/Documents management software
- Blue Cross/ Shield Directory
- Electronic Medical Dictionary
- Fax machine
- Document shredder
- Word processing program
- Audio playback software
- Anti virus program/
- Thesaurus/dictionary for windows
- System recovery software
- Drug/pharmaceutical reference guide
- Foot pedal
- Ad blocker
- Medical specialty books
- Google toolbar
- Spyware removal Utility
- Monthly newsletter
- Telephone line
- Editing software
- Conference recorder
- Voice recognition software
- Dictation recording equipment
- Text counting software (for home based work)
Voice recognition is one technology area that is being actively researched upon and one can expect a near perfect voice recognition software in the future that will make the transcriptionist's job much easier.
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers outsourcing solutions in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding for clients in the US and outside.Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, medical transcription equipment, medical transcription tools
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 9:12 PM
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Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Medical Transcription Team
In any average sized medical transcription unit one will come across a team of people executing the project. The common hierarchies of people who form the transcription team include,
- The Transcriptionist
- Quality Editors (QA)
- Project Administrators
The medical transcriptionist is the front liner, working at the very first stage of making of the transcript. What does the medical transcriptionist do? Well it is his job to listen to the audio tapes and the physician's dictations, type them up, make a transcript and check out its contents. No wonder one of the most preferred skill a transcriptionist should have is the active listening skill besides the knowledge to understand all the technical details that is being talked about. All major flaws, if any, have to be identified at this stage itself. The quality of a professional medical transcriptionist is graded based on the on the quantity/quality of transcript produced by him.
The work is now passed on by the transcriptionist to the next level that consists of quality editors. What do the quality editors do? Well as the name suggests, the quality editors have to edit the transcript, which means, looking out for finer errors (such as spelling mistakes, incorrect words and proper formatting). The QA has to make sure that the transcript is ready for release to the client.
Call OSI (Outsource Strategies International) the Oklahoma based medical transcription company for domestic and offshore solutions in medical coding and medical transcription outsourcing.Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription outsourcing, QA transcription, transcription project editors
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 11:03 PM
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Sunday, February 3, 2008
Standardization of Medical Transcription and Reports
Medical transcription primarily is about converting voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians and/or other healthcare professionals into text format. With so many of different types of specialties in the healthcare sector, there are a wide range of medical reports with different formats. But how is it possible to judge so diversely different areas of specalizations? There has been a growing need for a standard unit of measurement for all the different types of medical transcription reports.
The AAMT line was the previously advanced standard unit of measure for medical record transcription. It was a 65-character line. But the main problem with this system is the inclusion of nonprinting characters and formatting instructions that makes it difficult to validate the line count of individual documents.
AHIMA and MTIA's Joint Task Force on Standards Development had recommended a standard unit of measure for medical transcription that can be applied to all types of medical reports and various technologies. This standard will address the issue/ confusion caused due to the use of various types of medical billing methods.
The above mentioned task force has identified that VBC or "visible black character" as the only counting method that could be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all parties in the medical transcription business processes. It is said to be the only counting method that can be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all in the medical transcription business processes.
OK, so what is the current medical transcription industry heading at with regards to standardization of reports? Providers with standards-compliant electronic medical records will be the big future winners as a result of an effort to establish interoperability specifications for common types of clinical documents. The project is called "Clinical Document Architecture for Common Document Types" (CDA4CDT). It will create implementation guides for the most common types of dictated clinical documents. The guides will use the Health Level Seven (HL7) Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), the same framework used by the ASTM/HL7 Continuity of Care Document (CCD) besides other projects.
Here is a list of the forthcoming AHIMA 2008 meetings that will be very useful for those in this area of the medical transcription and medical billing industry, http://www.ahima.org/meetings . Professionals in the health information management sectors must attend these meetings.
OSI (Outsource Strategies International) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional cost effective services in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription services to clients in all the US States, Canada or from any global location.Labels: AHIMA, CDA4CDT, HIPAA medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, medical transcription technology
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 11:08 PM
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Friday, February 1, 2008
Geriatrics Medical Transcription
Geriatrics is a specialty branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in old age. Besides the regular medical attention Geriatrics also deals with the psychology, economic and social aspects of the elderly.
It is unfortunate that there is a shortage of geriatricians/ physicians with geriatric training in the US, even though the number of aged population is ever growing. Many a times we have come across cases where a surgery for the elderly patient was prevented by the timely intervention of a geriatric specialist. Due to this shortage, the nation's top academic geriatricians, focus on teaching the core principles of their specialty to everyone, including surgeons or discharge planners etc.
Geriatrics medical transcription is about medical transcription of documents from the geriatricians or other physicians trained in geriatrics. During geriatrics medical transcription it is always preferred to give the work to professional transcriptionists who have had previous experience in handling geriatrics cases. They will be more familiar with the drugs, problems and solutions of the elderly. Some of the common problems seen in the elderly are,
- Incontinence
- Immobility
- Osteoporosis
- Memory loss
- Gastrointestinal disturbances
- Instability
- Obesity
- Lung problems
- Insufficient blood supply
Geriatrics transcription services handle all types of medical records for the elderly that can include a wide range of documents including, physical reports, clinic notes, operative reports, consultation notes, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports X-ray reports, pathology reports, discharge summaries etc.
Contact OSI (Outsource Strategies International) an Oklahoma based medical transcription company that offers highly professional outsourcing solutions for your entire medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription service needs.Labels: geriatrics medical transcription, HIPAA, medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription company, specialty medical transcription, transcription company
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 8:06 PM
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Medical Transcription Industry Association
Way back in 1989, Health Professions Institute sponsored and started a forum that was needed for the medical transcription managers and owners to interact and discuss the medical transcription business, its technology etc. Even though the AAMT (American Association of Medical Transcription) was already a very good source of related industry information, there was an unfulfilled need for forming an association that solely represented the interests of the MT business people. Thus gradually in October 1993, MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) officially came into being. Its website is,http://www.mtia.com/index.cfm
MTIA is a not-for-profit trade association serving the needs of medical transcription companies, vendors, and health information management professionals. Its Mission is to create the environment in which the members can prosper, grow, and deliver the highest level of healthcare-documentation services.
Take a look at its board of directors at http://www.mtia.com/bod.cfm and MTIA Code of Ethics at http://www.mtia.com/CodeOfEthics.cfm
See details of the different types of memberships at https://www.mtia.com/MembershipCategories.cfm
MTIA membership application is available at https://www.mtia.com/MTIAMembershipApp.cfm
MTIA's Annual Conference for this year is scheduled for April 23-26, 2008 at Long Beach, California. Here is the schedule of events at the conference, https://www.mtia.com/downloads/MTIA%202008%20Schedule%20at%20A%20Glance.pdf
For outsourcing solutions in medical coding, medical billing and medical transcription services, do call the Oklahoma based medical transcription company OSI (Outsource Strategies International)Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription association, medical transcription industry association, MTIA
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 9:08 PM
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Monday, January 28, 2008
Tips for Medical Transcription Dictation
Years back when I was in India, I knew a pharmacist who was the only one who could decipher everything our hospital's only physician scribbled /prescribed on his pad. (Many rural Indian hospitals still follow the system). Believe it or not, whenever the pharmacist took a day off or was on leave, the pharmacy would give out wrong medications that turned up to be tragic. We later solved the problem by getting a mobile phone for our pharmacist friend whom we called up even on his "off days" and clarified what the physician prescribed. Surprisingly he could solve the problem even over the telephone.
Today it is not bad handwriting but bad dictation. It indeed makes the medical transcriptionist's job more difficult and highly prone to mistakes. Further it causes waste of valuable time. So what can be the solution to this problem? Is it possible to have an exclusive transcription professional for each doctor so that he gets know the physician like the back of his hand?
Well here is a guide with tips to proper dictation that will be very useful for the physician to give good dictations and get error free transcripts. I recently came across a group of medical transcription from different specialty groups who all had similar types of requests/appeal for the dictating physicians /doctors.
- While dictating a difficult medical term it would be greatly appreciated if care is taken to see that the term gets well recorded via the microphone.
- Please start the dictation mentioning about the type/title of document that is been dictated instead of keeping the transcriptionist guessing about it till the end.
- Please avoid the tendency to summarize every thing/procedure and include everything in few long sentences. It would be ideal to present the facts in shorter and more communicative sentences if possible.
- Would appreciate if uncommon abbreviations are expanded and dictated when possible.
- Please move your face away for a moment from the microphone to sneeze/cough.
- Please finish your snack before beginning the dictation or keep it for afterwards.
- Never forget to mention the basic information like date/name/ summary etc
- Try and avoid talking fast/ yawns /hiccups while dictating.
Physicians/surgeons should be aware of the background sounds/ noise and how it can become a hindrance to listening to the dictation. Just a pause at such occasions would be greatly appreciated and can save a lot of time.
Outsource Strategies International(OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers outsourcing solutions in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription service for clients globally.Labels: medical coding, medical transcription, medical transcription dictation tips, tips for dictation, tips for transcribing physicians, transcription company
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 10:24 PM
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Surgery Medical Transcription
In any allopathic medical practice, surgery is an important aspect. Surgery transcription involves converting all the surgeon's voice tapes about a surgical procedure into neatly typed documents. And thus surgery transcription is an important specialty in medical transcription. Surgery transcriptions are used for settlement of insurance claims and legal matters.
Some of the different types of surgery transcription areas include,
- Dental surgery
- General Surgery
- Cardiovascular/thoracic surgery
- Abdominal/ gastrointestinal surgery
- Orthopedic surgery
- Obstetric and Gynecology surgery
- Neurosurgery
- Plastic surgery
The surgery transcription process can be very demanding from the medical transcriptionists as it requires a deep knowledge of various surgical procedures, surgical techniques and familiarity with the different medical and surgical equipment that is used during surgery. A good transcription professional will have a good knowledge of the anatomy of the human body and the various types of diseases that affect the various parts of the body. A good knowledge of the different procedures and surgery performed along with familiarity with all related terminology will go a long way in correctly transcribing the surgeon's voice tapes without making mistakes. However in case of pending doubts it is always better for the medical transcription professional to check out directly with the surgeon who actually did the job. A lot of medical equipments are used by the surgeons that the medical surgery transcriptionist has to be familiar with. These can include knowledge of,
- Surgical instruments (Scissors / scalpels etc)
- Surgical Diathermy
- Endoscopic instruments
- Suction apparatus
- Anesthesia machine
- Pulseoximeter
- Plethysmographs
- Multi parameter patient monitors
- Defibrillators
- Autoclaves
- Infusion pumps
- Autoclaves
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based company that offers a wide range of medical transcription, medical billing and coding services to the clients across the US, Canada the UK and Australia.Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, surgery medical transcription, surgery transcription
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 11:00 PM
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Medical Transcription Errors Can be Costly
Errors in our medical records can become an expensive mistake. Experts warn that medical transcription errors along with outdated information and inadvertent omissions can put to risk our ability to secure individual health, life or disability insurance. Even if we do get insurance coverage, inaccurate data can also become the reason for us to pay much more than we should.
According to a very recent study conducted by the New York based health issues researching group Commonwealth Fund one-fifth of working-age adults who seek insurance coverage are turned down. They get charged higher because of pre-existing conditions or are offered plans that exclude some types of health issues.
What are the types/causes of errors during transcription? These include,
- Difficult voice recordings
- Lack of judgment of transcriptionist
- Not clear audio
- Speed of dictation
- Dictation accent
- Omission of process step
- Knowledge errors
From where else do the insurance companies get their information? From credit rating companies like the MIB. MIB Group, Inc., also known as the Medical Information Bureau, is a membership corporation and credit rating agency that serves the North American insurance industry. It collects and furnishes information on for use in the insurance underwriting process. In addition to an individual's credit history it also collects data like medical conditions, driving records, criminal activity etc.
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is an Oklahoma based company that offers professional services in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding.Labels: HIPAA medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription errors, Medical Transcriptionist, transcription and insurance
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 7:34 PM
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Friday, January 18, 2008
Medical Transcription Professional: See Where He Comes In!
You are not well and have decided to see a specialist about that nagging pain. You go and start talking about the problem to the doctor. Now you may need to talk about the past history of the problem which you will have to remember and maybe rack your brains to remember everything just as it happened. (Ideally you must have some past papers and also made specific notes about the problem).
Anyway, after you have explained your problems and also answered all the queries of the doctor, he will physically examine you and also prescribed for various laboratory tests before he is able to make a diagnosis/differential diagnosis. Only after diagnosis does the doctor comes up with the plan of treatment which he explains and gives you / your family members the required instructions/prescriptions that must be followed. Finally as you come out of the doctor's office, you see the other people waiting for their turn to get in and talk to the doctor. But before someone else walks into the doctor's cabin there is something the doctor does after you have left. Well it's just that the entire encounter he had with you is quickly recorded into a voice recording device (either a cassette recorder, telephone or some other device).
In a few minutes the doctor is on to another patient, another issue and thus the voice recordings continue. By the end of the day/session the doctor has seen many patients requiring various types of treatments. Now where is all that critical patients' data? Can we expect the doctor to remember some of the details? Certainly not! Well as of now, most of the information is on tape and tomorrow the doctor or someone else (like say the insurance people) may need to know exactly what happened with say, patient number 6 who came in last Monday?. Should they be given access to those voice recordings? Can they follow the doctor's rumblings? No indeed, everything has to be neat, and in paper. But then the doctor can't type nor does he have the time for paper work. So who does all that work of converting that technical "doctor talk" into a typed document? You guessed it!
OSI (Outsource Strategies International) is an Oklahoma based domestic and offshore outsourcing solutions provider, for medical transcription, medical billing and coding.Labels: medical billing, medical coding, medical transcription, medical transcription professional, transcription company
posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 10:15 PM
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MTIAPI and Medical Transcription in The Philippines
The Philippines is the preferred offshore location after India when it comes to outsourcing medical transcription work to Asia. MTIAPI or The Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit industry organization recognized by the Philippines government and its BPO industry, with the following objectives.
- Promote the outsourcing of medical transcription services.
- Promote the development and education of individuals and corporations with respect to healthcare information and management.
- Organize any lawful activities within the purposes for which a corporation may be organized under the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Here is a list of the MTIAPI members:http://www.mtiapi.com/memlist.html
Take a look at the new set of the MTIAPI board of trustees for 2008 at http://www.mtiapi.com/trustees.html and its new contact /address at http://www.mtiapi.com/Announcement/Announcement.html
The Philippines has the distinct advantage of having a vast pool of English speaking people. It is actually the third largest English speaking country in the world and also the second largest American English speaking country in the world with a literacy rate of almost 94%. It also has the advantage of having the much preferred 12 hour time difference with the United States. The Philippi | | | | |
