The Evolving Medical Transcription

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Medical Transcription is a fast growing and evolving sector that has been influenced by many factors over the years. As preferences and standards have changed, one of the significant aspects of medical transcription has been the shift to electronic patient record. What are the basic factors for this evolution? They include,
  • Advancement in technology
  • Practice workflow
  • Regulations
There has been a lot of demand to enhance patient safety, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. However, even though it has become mandatory for service providers and healthcare practices to migrate to a HIPAA compliant environment there are many companies who still have not yet adhere to this requirement.

In the distant future one can be sure that the voice recognition software will greatly improve and may slowly even replace manual transcription. Adopted technologies such as speech recognition software and application service providers (ASPs) can keep up with the demands of regulations, standards, and cutting-edge demands in this sector. One can also expect that unlike today, medical coding may become embedded within documentation thereby not requiring a separate process and reduce the overall cost of medical transcription.

There is also the growing need for medical transcription to comply with basic Principles of documentation that has been developed by the Consensus Workgroup on Healthcare Documentation & Report Generation. It will look into the following aspects of transcription.
  • Patient details
  • Accuracy of document
  • Completeness
  • Timeliness
  • Interoperability
  • Retrievability
  • Authentication
  • Accountability
  • Auditability
  • Confidentiality
  • Security
Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based company that offers services in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.

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posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 10:15 PM Go to The Evolving Medical Transcription



Medical Transcription Equipment and Technologies

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

As in many other fields, digital equipment technology forms the backbone of the modern medical transcription industry. The keyword here is "digital". Over the years most transcription equipment have evolved and digital technology has made it possible for finished medical transcripts to be delivered across the globe in minimal turnaround time. It has also enabled effective outsourcing /offshoring of medical transcription and enabled transcription professionals from other developing countries like India/Philippines to offer their services at competitive rates. Good transcription professionals around the globe can now work even from the comfort of their homes.

Some of the technology/software and gears commonly used in the medical transcription business include,
  • Digital microphones
  • PC based transcriber software
  • Digital transcriber stations
  • Speed typing software
  • Telephone dictation equipment
  • Dictation management software
  • Transcription desk reference
  • Medical spelling checker
  • Micro-cassette voice recorder
  • Transcription wrist gloves (fingerless)
  • FTP software
  • Audio file encryption software
  • Conference recorders
  • Universal foot pedals
  • Stedman's electronic medical dictionary
  • Phone-in dictation system
  • Transcriber headset
  • Speech mikes
  • Storage memory stick
  • Document counting/ invoicing software
  • Voice recognition software
While a dictation system is the primary requirement from where the physician actually starts the audio recording process, a transcription tracking system can track transcription jobs from the time they are received until they are delivered back to the customer. The system keeps track of all details like the time/date the job was received, transcription date assigned to a transcriptionist, actual date the transcription, date printed, delivery date/time of the transcript, and the delivery mode. A very convenient statistical report lets us to track the propagation time, balance workloads, manage delivery commitments, and provide a multitude of detailed information to the customer - in both paper and electronic form. The most common form of dictation format used today is the .DSS File Extension

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers affordable outsourcing of medical transcription, medical coding and medical billing to clients globally and in all the US States and cities.

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posted by Outsource Strategies International @ 7:05 PM Go to Medical Transcription Equipment and Technologies