Getting Ready for EHR Rollout

20-September-2012 Julie Clements EHR Transcription

The goal of electronic health records (EHR) is proper healthcare documentation which, in turn, would work to improve patient care and hospital efficiency. Hospitals also have to meet EHR requirements to benefit from Medicare and Medicaid incentives. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, meaningful EHR would allow:

Complete and accurate information for providers
Better access to information to providers so that they can offer better patient care
Patient empowerment by allowing them to access and share their health records, and take a more active role in their healthcare and that of their families

Accurate and timely medical transcription is the key to adopting and meeting the requirements of EHR. Transcription is a serious challenge for big hospitals with many specialty departments like Gastroenterology, Radiology, Cardiology, Pathology, Chiropractic, Family Practice, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and more. All these departments churn out hundreds of files on a daily basis: patient interviews, follow-up notes, diagnostic procedure notes, files on medical histories and physicals, operative reports, referral letters, discharge summaries, SOAP notes, and insurance related correspondence.

Having an in-house transcription department can prove expensive and time consuming. Ensuring a smoother transition to an EHR system would be best accomplished by outsourcing to a reliable provider of medical transcription services for hospitals. Things to look for when choosing a medical transcription company:

HIPAA compliance
Accuracy level of up to 99%
Choice of toll-free and digital dictation
Secure. encrypted file transfer modes
Customized transcription service to meet the needs of each department
Affordable pricing that can assure cost savings of 30-40%
Free Trial

The success of healthcare documentation will ultimately depend on the efficiency of the medical transcription company handling the job.

Understanding Medical Transcription Costs

04-September-2012 MTS TEAM Medical Transcription

The costs of dictation and medical transcription are usually borne by physician’s offices and healthcare facilities. The amount spent every year to transcribe clinical dictation into medical text is runs into billions of dollars and continues to rise. A reliable transcription company can provide healthcare facilities with transcription services at affordable rates. Outsourcing to an established service provider is much more cost-effective than doing transcription within the medical service provider’s facility. However, while outsourcing, healthcare establishments should be cost conscious, consider billing methods and understand the different aspects of cost.

Billing by line and billing per minute of dictation: Most companies charge per line of transcribed text. The Association for Healthcare Documentation (AHDI) defines a standard line as one with 65 characters. Some companies define a line based on the number of characters with spaces. There are service providers that charge for capitalization, bolding, and underlining, that is, per keystroke. There could be charges for incomplete lines or starting a new line. The golden rule is that healthcare facilities need to be aware of the prospective transcription service provider’s definition of a line to get a clear idea of their pricing policy. Some companies charge per minute of dictation, per page of transcribed text, or even a consistent monthly rate.

Turnaround time (TAT): TAT is the time taken for the report to be dictated, transcribed, and verified by the physician. Medical reports have to be completed on a timely basis for medical and legal reasons, failing which the medical records department could face legal problems.

Different types of hospital records have different TAT, ranging between 12 to 72 hours. For instance, the TAT for stat reports such as radiology and pathology reports could be 12 hours or less; current reports such as history and physical reports, consultations, and operative notes typically have a 24-hour TAT; for aged reports like discharge summaries and emergency room notes, TAT is usually 72 hours. Many firms offer customized TAT.

TAT influences cost. So the medical practitioner must know how the service provider defines standard TAT and what the charges are.

Other factors that may raise cost are extra charges for QA, initial set up, poor audio quality, and dictation via smart phone applications.

Healthcare facilities should look for an established, reliable, HIPAA compliant medical transcription company that can provide transcription services at affordable rates. MTS offers many pricing advantages such as a free digital recorder for volume transcription contracts, special volume rates, customizable TAT, and a no-obligation free trial.

NIAM – Wake-up Call for Immunizations Once again

21-August-2012 Julie Clements Healthcare News

The month of August is dedicated to increasing awareness regarding immunizations among the people. Of course, healthcare professionals are those who can do a good job in this regard, educating their patients on the importance of vaccinations. It is distressing that in spite of the availability of effective vaccines, many people in the US still die from vaccine-preventable diseases. This is obviously because people are not informed enough about how vaccines can help protect themselves, their family and friends from serious, even fatal infections and diseases.

Vaccinations for All Age Groups

It is every healthcare entity’s duty to stress the importance of vaccinating children who are most prone to infection. Parents have to be informed about the necessity of giving vaccines to children during the first five or six years of their life. There are immunizations to be given during their adolescent and adult years, as well as booster immunizations to be given throughout life. Vaccinations are not limited to children alone. Adults too need these shots. Here is an overview of vaccinations to be given for different age groups.

Adults: booster shots every ten years for immunization against diphtheria and tetanus; and a onetime pneumonia shot for those aged 65 and above.
Children: shots to protect from contracting measles, chicken pox, hepatitis and polio
Pre-teens and teens: immunizations against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, meningitis and HPV (human papillomavirus) for pre-teens; booster shot for teens against meningitis to be given at age 16

Medicare beneficiaries need to be told about the coverage offered by Medicare for pneumococcal, influenza and hepatitis B vaccines. Apart from this, healthcare professionals can also impart information regarding the vaccines available for certain diseases one may fall victim to when traveling abroad to specific parts of the world.

Protection for the Entire Community

People need to be made aware that when they go in for immunizations, they are protecting not only themselves but the entire community. This is achieved by preventing the spread of disease carrying viruses and bacteria. By getting these vital shots, they are also reducing the risk faced by those members of the community who cannot get vaccinations due to medical reasons.

Healthcare Industry Set to Grow

17-August-2012 MTS TEAM Healthcare News

The healthcare sector is one of the least affected by the recession. Bloomberg Businessweek reported that “while the economy lost 7.5 million positions during the 18-month recession, the health-care industry added doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel.” Likewise, the American Hospital Association called the healthcare sector an ‘economic mainstay’ as it provided stability and even growth during the recession.

The Healthcare Industry is also in the limelight with the upholding of the Affordable Care Act by the Supreme Court. The Act mandates that everyone buy health insurance. This will increase the demand for healthcare services, and it is estimated that, by 2020, the workforce in healthcare will have to increase by 30% to keep up. There will be a rise in demand for the services of doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff, and hospitals. Pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies will also benefit.

Many experts have pointed out that the rise in demand for healthcare services would lead to an increased financial burden with people having to pay more in taxes to support the system. Others argue that the focus should be on improving the efficiency of the healthcare system and on delivering better care.

All this is a good sign for medical transcription companies as the growth in healthcare will lead to an increased demand for medical transcription services. Medical transcription companies need to focus, more than ever, on providing quality medical transcription in custom turnaround time.

Medical Transcription Humor

01-August-2012 Rajeev Rajagopal Medical Transcription

Physicians’ notes interpreted wrongly can be a source of some great laughs

Errors in medical transcription can occur due to any of various reasons. They can occur due to poor audio, background noise, difficulty in understanding the heavy accent of the physician, tiredness, boredom or maybe even incompetence of the transcriptionist.

Some Bloopers

The errors can be so serious as to alter the meaning of a word and even lead to possibly dangerous consequences. On the other hand, the sight of some errors just can’t keep the reader from laughing. The following are some examples.

Exam of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized
The wound is doing fine, without complaints
This is her first period since vaginal delivery of a three month old baby
On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared completely
She is numb from her toes down
She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until 1989 when she got a divorce
Social history reveals this 1 year old patient does not smoke or drink and is presently unemployed
The skin was moist and dry
The baby was delivered, the cord clamped and cut and handed to the pediatrician, who breathed and cried immediately

Outsource to Eliminate Errors

Errors don’t have to be so bad as these. They can be minor but still errors no doubt. If you want to reduce or eliminate the errors in your in-house transcription, a good option to consider would be outsourcing. Then you can be assured of 99 percent accuracy consistently as long as you have chosen a reputable and capable medical transcription company.

Outsourcing Ensures Affordable and Timely Endocrinology Transcription

23-July-2012 MTS TEAM Endocrinology Transcription

Endocrinology Transcription As in other medical specialties, dictation in an endocrinology clinic has to be carried out in a specific format that is acceptable for reimbursement. The dictation would include details about the patient’s medical history, chronological history of the main problem inclusive of dates and diagnoses, medication history, a full review of systems with signs and symptoms, and related social and family history. The dictation has to be transcribed, corrections made, edited and electronically filed. In a busy practice, this would take up a lot of valuable time and resources. That points to the importance of endocrinology transcription service provided by leading medical transcription companies.

A HIPAA compliant medical transcription company would have all the resources and technology necessary to meet the pressing demands of their clients. Each physician is assigned a project manager and team of skilled medical transcriptionists. The team, which includes proofreaders and editors, is well-versed in advanced endocrinology terminology and in the use of the latest medical transcription hardware and software. The endocrinologist is offered convenient and flexible options such as dictation through telephone or digital recorder. Files are transferred through encrypted email or uploaded on a secure FTP server. Most important, a reliable transcription company can ensure transcription with up to 99% accuracy and in fast turnaround time. Physicians are assured of full document flow management for reports on endocrine tests, diagnostic evaluation, hormone testing, patient progress, history and physicals, chart notes and medical evaluations

Outsourcing their endocrinology transcription tasks to the right service provider can ensure competitive pricing and save endocrinologists up to 40% on cost. No hidden fees, no long term contracts and a dedicated customer service are other advantages of partnering with the right medical transcription company.

Electronic Signature for Medical Transcription

19-July-2012 Rajeev Rajagopal Medical Transcription

Considered the equivalent of the typical handwritten signature, the electronic signature (e-signature) has quickly become an essential element of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). It is one of the impressive features of medical transcription services offered by reputable outsourcing companies. With the arrival of the electronic signature feature, only the physician’s typed name is required on the report instead of a physical signature. As long as the physician has a computer with internet access, he can sign his patient’s medical records with his electronic signature.

Advantages of Electronic Signature

Enables charts to be accessible for patient care even when documents have yet to be signed
No longer required to print hard copies of dictations and keep them sitting on the physician’s table till he gets the time to review and sign them
Improves office efficiency because it is not necessary to physically take out charts for signature
Minimizes the workflow process for administration staff
Signature security ensured owing to individual provider PINs and username and password security for each physician
Frees up more time for the healthcare entity to devote to patient care
Reduces turnaround for finished document
Easy to use and convenient

Advantages of Ophthalmology Transcription

12-July-2012 Julie Clements Ophthalmology Transcription

Ophthalmology Transcription Opthalmology transcription is a service available to Ophthalmology research centers, ophthalmic care clinics, individual doctors, hospitals, general physicians and other related healthcare providers. There are US-based companies that provide this service to practices based anywhere in the nation, completing the transcription within the fixed deadlines.

Benefits of Medical Transcription for Opthalmologists

The important benefits of outsourcing Ophthalmology transcription to a leading and efficient medical transcription company are:

High Accuracy – A 99 percent accuracy rate is achieved consistently as the transcriptionists are skilled and experienced and supported by a three-tiered quality control process.
Flexibility – Clients can choose from two dictation options – toll-free number or digital dictation machine and two methods of file transfer – FTP or secure browser-based transfer.
Customized Solutions – Solutions provided are in keeping with the practice’s formatting requirements, other specifications, specialty and budget.
Document management system – File archives, facility for the physician to make changes on the transcription even as the process in going on, and so on are available to streamline the entire procedure.
24/7 Customer Service – Customer enquiries and other related requirements are dealt with promptly.
HIPAA Compliant Transcription – Some of the steps taken to ensure security include the signing of confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements by staffs, 24/7 manned security, antivirus software and firewalls, monthly back-ups, and more.
Reduced Operating Expenses – The practice can expect savings of up to 30-40 percent.

How to Choose from Different Medical Transcription Companies

07-July-2012 MTS TEAM Medical Transcription Company

By outsourcing your in-house medical transcription process to a reputable healthcare business process outsourcing company, it is possible to give more time, attention and resources to patient care. However, it is important to choose the right service provider to get maximum benefits.

Selecting from Various Medical Transcription Companies – Some Tips

Do Research – Get the names of possible medical transcription companies from your contacts or Google. Research them by verifying the information pertaining to their organization, service quality and the number of years the business has been in service, and contacting provided references to verify their authenticity.

Number of Clients – The more the number of clients a particular business has, the better the quality of service you can expect from them.

Flexibility – The more flexible the service, the more convenient it would be for you. You can expect flexibility in dictation options, modes of file transfer, formatting and turnaround.

Accuracy – The company you eventually choose should give you transcripts that are 99 percent accurate (minimum) consistently.

Customized Solutions – Don’t go for a company that adopts a one-size fits all approach.

Free Trial – Go for a company that provides this service. The free trial would enable you to analyze whether a particular company’s services are really as good as it professes them to be.

Cost-reducing – The service provider you choose should help you cut operating costs for transcription by at least 30 percent.

Medical Transcription and EMR Should Proceed Hand in Hand

29-June-2012 Rajeev Rajagopal Medical Transcription

According to Lori Jayne, Lahey Clinic’s director of health information management, medical transcription is the foundation of EMRs. So, if healthcare providers want to see considerable improvements in their clinical documentation, healthcare transcription in combination with EMR instead of just EMR is a good idea.

Prompt and Quick Service

Physical therapists and other medical practitioners dictate into a digital dictation machine or toll-free number. Their medical transcription company delivers the completed transcripts within 24 hours which is quite quick. The use of transcription together with EMR for their CDI (clinical documentation improvement) ensures benefits in the following areas:

RAC audits
CDI program
Continued and enhanced revenue
Enhanced quality of care
Adherence to OIG

Winner in Many Respects

Medical transcription also improves the utilization of EMR in the following respects:

Merges with EMRs – Medical transcription can flawlessly merge with EMRs and mechanically populate the transcribed matter into the suitable EMR fields utilizing DRT (discrete reportable transcription). With medical transcription-merged EMR, physicians get more time to devote to patient care and hospital activities.

Improves Usability – Transcription goes well with EMRs and betters their usability. Many of the patient encounter notes are not easily grasped by the EMR’s documentation choices. Transcription offers a usable and valuable documentation means for the EMR.

Speeds up EMR implementation – Medical transcription speeds up and widens EMR implementation for healthcare providers.