How Technology in Healthcare Industry is Expected to Change in the Coming Years

15-June-2020 MTS TEAM Healthcare News

Telehealth

When a health emergency like COVID-19 arises, people are instructed to stay at home and minimize social contact. This is a difficult time, especially for patients who need to visit their doctors. Thankfully, this problem is addressed to some extent with advanced technology such as telemedicine. Virtual doctors and telehealth are now available that can provide quality patient care to remote patients. Telehealth is making its mark across the globe and it is an innovative service that helps patients seek medical assistance at any time. Many doctors now extend their service virtually through the internet to a broader audience and patients can access doctors through emails, or video conferencing or even telephonic conversation. Any recordings, whether audio or video can be transcribed into accurate patient records with the help of medical transcription services.

Several people are having their first experience with telemedicine due to the pandemic. With more and more healthcare units investing in digital health start-ups, including telemedicine providers, it’s a good time to ask how exactly telehealth will change the way we receive medical care.

Using Zoom: People often understand telehealth as a way of talking to doctors over a phone or laptop. But it is more fundamental than that. According to American Well founder and CEO Dr. Roy Schoenberg, telehealth is a system where the patient faces the front end of the healthcare system and helps in interacting with the patients digitally. In the coming years the narrow set of things that doctors can provide via Zoom may expand to include a wide spectrum of services that apps and connected devices can offer.
Connecting Medical Devices: A doctor may not be able to listen to the patient’s heartbeat when using telemedicine technology. But the doctor might be able to guide patients to take their blood pressure that can be uploaded later. The diabetes management company One Drop sells a kit and app for measuring the blood sugar levels and reporting the data to a doctor. Similarly, a medical-grade EKG that detects atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, or tachycardia in 30 seconds, with some help from the company’s AI algorithms, FDA-approved connected otoscopes, which help physicians look inside your ear, wearable blood glucose monitor etc are connected health gadgets that can be integrated with telemedicine to provide advanced patient care.
Remote Healthcare Kits: Some healthcare companies are making healthcare kits of connected diagnostic devices that can be integrated with traditional telemedicine. GALE from Silicon Valley-based 19Labs looks like a small medical chest with many connected medical devices hidden inside like a stethoscope, pulse oximeter, digital thermometer, and otoscope. A built-in display shows remote doctor visits and recorded How-Tos for using the equipment and treating specific illnesses. Similarly, in New York, TytoCare is making a handheld health monitoring device with attachments that can transform it into different diagnostic devices. All these remote healthcare kits make consultation easier and helps provide appropriate treatment to the patients.
After the Consultation: Follow-up appointments are a challenge in the healthcare industry but this is an opportunity for telehealth. Treatment plans often become ineffective when patients skip follow-up appointments. Patients start taking the medicine and after some days they start feeling better and may skip follow-ups. This is when patients stop taking medicines, stops monitoring symptoms and they fall sick again. However, with telemedicine, patients can keep up with follow-up visits and it helps to keep patients on track.
Look Beyond Wealth: Medication adherence has always been a problem in healthcare and there’s still no standard way of knowing if people are following the directions on the pill bottle. But with time we can expect a digital health integration with a pharmacy system that informs doctor when a patient fails to fill prescription. Modern smart watches have gradually added data-collecting sensors that could be useful for caregivers. But these devices have always remained as a symbol of wealth and not for people who are diabetic or have a heart problem. This can be changed only of the patient sees these wearable devices as an extension of doctor’s stethoscope.
New Approach with AI: Wearables give precise measurements and there will be more start-ups that specialize in receiving and analyzing data to the caretakers using a dashboard. Their software products even integrate biometrics data with other patient information from the electronic health record, then apply AI to the data set to look for patterns. Insights from these analyses can trigger a video call to the patient before anything bad happens.

The world is witnessing rapid transformation in many industries including healthcare. Telehealth is treatment of patients by means of telecommunication and with medical transcriptions services physicians can maintain accurate patient records. Telehealth is one such development, when integrated with other devices helps doctors carry out remote diagnosis and provide better patient care. Telemedicine has gained popularity during these COVID days as it provides clinical service to remote patients. It helps to stay compliant with the social distancing requirement, while also providing the necessary health services to patients.

Conditions that can be Treated via Telehealth Consultations

11-June-2020 Julie Clements Medical Transcription

Telehealth Consultations

Telehealth has become the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, proving a useful tool when patients must practice social distancing and are unable to attend face-to-face consultations. Our medical transcription company expects telemedicine to continue to be a part of the way medical care is provided even after the outbreak ends and is ready to help providers with their documentation requirements.

In telemedicine, healthcare providers offer care via video conferencing, email or phone messaging. Remote care can be effective for any condition that does not require lab tests or a physical exam. It’s important to know when telehealth works best and what conditions can be managed using virtual care (www.evisit.com).

Cold or Cough: A stuffy nose, a sore throat, body aches and sneezing are typical signs of flu or a common cold, which is caused by an upper respiratory tract infection. Flu comes on quickly, causes body aches, throat pain and a high fever, and can keep a person in bed for a week. While the symptoms of the common cold may be similar to COVID-19 symptoms, a cold typically passes within a few days and most symptoms improve in about a week. Asynchronous virtual care is a practical option to manage patients with colds and flu with mild symptoms. Physicians can screen patients to determine the severity of the condition and rule out a more serious condition like pneumonia. Diagnosing and treating patients remotely would also prevent the spread of germs and ease the burden placed on the physician’s office.
Hypertension: High blood pressure (BP) is a leading risk factor for death and disability. Telemonitoring of blood pressure is popular application in hypertension management. It allows patients to transmit BP and clinical information from their home to the hospital or doctor’s office. Home blood pressure telemonitoring (HBPT) involves using electronic automated BP monitors or m-health wireless solutions that store BP values obtained at the patient’s home and transferring them to the doctor’s office via the telephone or the internet. Along with educational support, medication trackers and reminders, and teleconsultation, HBPT offers many benefits for high risk patients.
Digestive diseases: Telehealth is useful for the management of gastrointestinal and gastroesophageal diseases. Most gastrointestinal issues generally don’t need a lot of intervention. Patients can discuss dietary issues, stress, symptoms of other problems, or even a side effect of a new prescription in their telehealth consultation. In the case of chronic digestive diseases, there are periods of worsening symptoms followed by symptom-free periods. Telemedicine allows the physicians and the patient to track disease progress without the need for physical office visits. Any serious issue can be identified by asking key questions and discussing symptoms and the patient can be directed to the right care. Telehealth promotes improved adherence to treatment, increased patient participation in medical decision making, and continuous care, thereby improving the overall management of patients with digestive diseases.
Skin Disorders: Telemedicine makes it easy for dermatologists to treat skin conditions such as rashes, moles, acne, and other skin conditions. In fact, it is an ideal option for patients to continue care for their skin conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic when dermatologists may have paused physical office visits. There are many skin conditions that can be diagnosed from looks alone. Mona Gohara, MD, a Yale University-affiliated dermatologist based in New Haven, Connecticut explains in an Everyday Health article, conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, shingles, or poison ivy are easily diagnosable conditions with a call or video chat. “There are just some rashes that are so distinct,” she notes, which allows for them to be cared for – and well – on the virtual level. By viewing the condition on a virtual telehealth platform, the dermatologist can identify the issue immediately, and write an e-prescription. However, telemedicine is not appropriate for annual skin checks and potential skin cancer diagnosis (www.everydayhealth.com).
Follow-up after surgery: Telehealth follow up consultations after surgery have become preferred compared to in-person visits. It recommended for scheduled follow-up visits, routine monitoring, and management of postop issues as they occur. Follow-up appointments are typically scheduled with patients to monitor their progress, note any reported symptoms, discuss medications, review lab results. Telemedicine can support all of this. In fact, a telemedicine-based approach can improve patient satisfaction, reduce hospital costs, and potentially improve clinical outcomes. In addition to enabling real-time clinical decision-making, telehealth can expand access to providers, and decrease patient travel and wait times, facilitates healing at home, and decreases potential injury risk.
Psychotherapy and counseling: Therapists can provide mental and behavioral health care using HIPAA-compliant audio and responsive video platforms. Telehealth can bridge the gap caused by shortage of mental health professionals. Online therapy and counselling services offer the same intimacy of a face-to-face visit, in the patient’s home. Patients can get quicker and more efficient access to care, eliminating commuting, wait times and scheduling issues that surround conventional care.

As the use of telehealth expands during and after the pandemic, medical transcription service providers can support providers by ensuing timely and accurate documentation of virtual visits.

How Digital Technology and Tools are Improving the Patient Experience

08-June-2020 Rajeev Rajagopal Medical Transcription Company

Digital Technology

The presence of digital tools is healthcare is growing. The medical transcription service industry is also part of this transformation, with EHR meaningful use requirements adding urgency to the digitization of healthcare. According to an American Medical Association (AMA) 2016 & 2019 study, more and more physicians are using and showing enthusiasm for digital technology. The survey found that an increasing proportion of physicians are using digital health tools to enable:

Consumer access to clinical data-58%
Point of care or workflow enhancements-47%
Clinical decision support-37%
Patient engagement-33%
Remote monitoring and management for improved care-22%
Remote monitoring for efficiency-16%

Up to 87% of the respondent perceived at least some advantage in digital health tools, with 40% of PCPs seeing a definite advantage vs. 33% of specialists.

Today, consumerism is driving transformation in the healthcare industry. Digital healthcare tools increase return on investment by helping healthcare organizations deliver personalized patient experiences and better care. As health IT continues to advance, hospitals and health systems are leveraging digital tools to enhance patient engagement with their health data and their providers, with the aim to optimize care coordination and patient outcomes. A 2019 survey by the Center for Connected Medicine found that health systems are improving the patient experience by investing in digital health solutions that allow patients to:

Access their own health records/test results
Schedule appointments
Communicate directly with care team
Manage payments/pay bills
Monitor/manage chronic health conditions
Check-in or arrival management
Search for a physician or specialist
Access telehealth for wellness visits, for sick visits, and for behavioral health visits

Let’s see how these capabilities have evolved.

According to a report from the American Hospital Association, 93% of hospitals and health systems enable patients to access their health data, interact with health data, and obtain health services. More organizations are allowing patients to download information from their health record, electronically transmit summaries of care to a third party, and make an electronic request an amendment to update or change their health record.

Digital self-scheduling is another option that is enhancing the patient experience. With the click of a mouse or button, patients can schedule appointments, reschedule or cancel them, at any time that is convenient to them. Self-appointment software options also come with automatic reminder notices and reports. By allowing patients to manage their appointments, organizations can save staff time for answering phones and appointment scheduling.

Patient portal secure messaging enables healthcare providers to streamline interaction with patients. Patients can communicate directly with them via the portal’s messaging system. Matters that were earlier discussed via telephone calls or during in-person follow-up appointments can be done digitally. Secure direct messaging is also a cost-effective option for patients. For example, patients with mild health symptoms that can be treated with easy-to-access over the counter medications can get their concerns addressed via secure direct messaging, instead of visiting the office. Physicians can also use the portal’s messaging system to instruct urgent cases to come in as soon as possible, preventing the issue from becoming too serious, and ultimately saving healthcare costs.

Healthcare systems allow patients to pay their medical bills online is increasing (87% offered this facility, up from 70% in 2012, according to the 2016 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Information Technology Supplement). They have patient centric payment systems that break down bills by the services that were provided, what the patient’s insurance covers, and what their out of pocket costs are. Many facilities offer flexible payment options and patients can pay what they owe from mobile devices, tablets and laptops. Such customizable options go a long way in improving patient satisfaction and collections.

Forward thinking hospitals are utilizing health IT to simplify not only the billing experience, but also the check-in process for patients. Electronic check-in systems reduce patient check in times, allows check in via a kiosk, tablet or mobile app, and feature easy to fill in check in forms in various languages. The software automatically place patients in a queue, complete eligibility verification, reduce the time needed for registration and customize the patient experience.

When patients enrol in an insurance plan, they can use software programs to search for doctors, hospitals, and health care facilities and find one that fits their needs. They can find any type of provider they need whether a Primary Care Provider (PCP), specialist, behavioral health specialist or dentist

The AMA’s study found that largest increases in digital health tool adoption were in tele-visits, with usage doubling from 14% in 2016 to 28% in 2019, and remote monitoring for improved care. With the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing norms, telehealth has become a game changer. The adoption of remote care technology has increased across the U.S. and this trend is likely to continue in the post-COVID scenario.

Technological advances, EHRs, and digitization have also transformed the role and capabilities of medical transcription companies. Transcriptionists are becoming more productive with the utilization of technologies like speech recognition but will need to acquire additional skills to stay relevant (www.fortherecordmag.com).

Today, most patients expect personalized healthcare experiences similar to what other industries have provided for years. The healthcare industry can catch up by creating a more seamless patient experience utilizing IT. Given the challenges of the present times, digital is going to play a significant role in healthcare. As the Becker’s Health IT & CIO Report notes, “The organizations delivering the best patient experience will be the same ones excelling at accessibility via technology.”

Telemedicine and Emergency Care for Patients – a Great Remote Care Alternative

04-June-2020 MTS TEAM Medical Transcription

Telemedicine

Consideration of patients’ convenience and the availability of smart devices have made healthcare providers turn to electronic communication to consult a patient. Telemedicine is the use of technology to electronically exchange medical information and provide medical services to patients. Telemedicine service has gained popularity and requires accurate documentation of patient records with the help of medical transcription services. It helps doctors to connect with the patient using a phone or other mobile device and is a very useful alternative for patients who stay in remote areas.

Telemedicine is useful for older people who have a higher risk of falling ill. Telemedicine solutions provide a new opportunity for diagnosis, treatment, education, and rehabilitation, and make it possible to monitor patients with a number of chronic diseases. It provides services like monitoring health parameters and vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and glucose levels and ensures patient safety.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the following are some of the ethical considerations with regard to telemedicine.

Emergency departments using telemedicine should make it a form of accessible care to the people irrespective of their religion, race, sexual orientation, location or income.
Emergency departments and hospitals should ensure that their telemedicine systems and practices help maintain utmost privacy and confidentiality of patients under HIPAA requirements. They should also keep their technology and equipment up to date.
The decisions made during telemedicine relating to patient care, referrals and transfers should be based on the patient’s healthcare needs.
Standards should be established for telemedicine practitioners and related quality assurance and educational programs must be developed to develop the discipline.
ACEP would support legislative efforts that would permit single-state licensing being sufficient to practice telemedicine across the United States.

Telemedicine and Emergency Care

At HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital, they have emergency department telemedicine program that brings board-certified emergency department physicians to local emergency departments via real time videoconferencing if a doctor or advanced practice provider would like to discuss a case with another emergency room physician. Board-certified emergency physicians at St. Vincent and St. Mary’s Hospitals in Green Bay offer trauma evaluations and specialized assessments for patients, help with triage decisions and in identifying patients for admission to St. Clare Memorial Hospital, eliminating unnecessary transfers to another hospital.

St. Clare Memorial Hospital employs advanced healthcare providers who are experienced in emergency medicine to provide care within their emergency department. They work to the full extent of their education and function independently with minimal oversight and make clinical decisions. They develop a plan of care for patients, and may collaborate with emergency department physicians using telemedicine.

Advantages of Emergency Telemedicine

Telemedicine is useful for patients as well as physicians because with telemedicine physicians can provide accurate and efficient decisions about health care and the real-time video evaluation enhances the ability of trauma specialists to render timely and effective treatment.

For patients, the emergency telemedicine program provides:

Timely treatment close to home
Reduced travel time
Access to board-certified emergency physicians
Improved quality of care

For physicians, the advantages of emergency telemedicine program are:

Specialty consults to help make decisions about patient care
Input from board-certified emergency physicians without having to send patients to Green Bay
Educational opportunities and mentoring
Increased efficiency
Improved patient outcomes

Telemedicine can ensure better patient care and support and the conversation between the patient and doctor can be documented with the help of professional medical transcription services. However, this health care system can be useful only for non-emergency diseases and not for emergency situations.

There’s a Sudden Surge in the Use of Voice Recognition Amidst COVID-19

01-June-2020 Julie Clements Medical Transcription

Voice Recognition

Telemedicine that has been gaining popularity due to its ease of access and convenience of remote consultation, is now being increasingly adopted in light of the COVID-19 epidemic. With telemedicine, patients can consult their doctors, describe their conditions and show easily visible symptoms such as skin rashes etc. to the doctor without physically going to a clinic. Telemedicine consultations need to be documented, which calls for solutions such as medical transcription services. Voice recognition software has also become an alternative wherein the software transcribes the physician’s notes. Ideally, transcripts prepared by machines should be proofread/edited by a human transcriptionist.

With the outbreak of COIVD-19, telemedicine has become a prime element of the healthcare industry as it makes it convenient for patients to stay at home and avail medical support, and also maintain social distancing. Real-time transcription from voice to text quickens the process of medical documentation and improves the efficiency of physicians and other medical staffs. Following are four ways in which voice recognition helps the healthcare system at the time of COVID-19.

Minimize turnaround delays: Hospitals are overflooding with patients, doctors are treating patients over phone and the situation demands quick access to medical documentation. With voice recognition software, doctors can easily update the EHR of their patients and the patient records are ready to be shared immediately. This allows doctors to move quickly from one patient to another without delay, and without stressing about transcribing the recordings themselves.
Addressing the call backlogs: With the outbreak of COVID-19, doctors, nurses, and medical personnel are so busy treating patients who have contracted the virus, that very few of them are available to tend to the phones. With limited number of doctors and never-ending phone calls from patients, it is difficult to keep track of all the concerns of the patients. But with voice recognition software, all voice recordings can be converted into text format and displayed to the doctor along with the EHR. This ensures maximum coverage of calls made to the hospitals.
Ready-to-use templates: Voice recognition software is useful for patients but it has some challenges like picking up or learning the language, terminology etc. New vocabulary and mistakes have to be corrected to ensure accuracy. Once all these imperfections are corrected, physicians and other healthcare personnel can use templates that are readily available and customizable to speed up documentation. These templates allow the speaker to move from one field to another using voice commands and makes the process of transcription faster.
Minimize errors and ensure accuracy: Doctors are known for their poor handwriting and transcribing physicians’ handwritten notes can lead to inaccuracies. In the case of telemedicine, all details regarding prescriptions, discharge notes etc are recorded and converted into text with the help of voice recognition software. This eliminates the need for calling the doctor to clarify any doubt in the prescription.

Healthcare settings implementing voice recognition software may experience some starting trouble; but once everyone is on board with the new technology, everything should work fine. Despite so many advantages, voice recognition software (VRS) also has some shortcomings. The goal of Voice Recognition Software in healthcare is to streamline the document reporting process. However, VRS could make this process more arduous. Since VRS uses technology to dictate reports, it often misses common jargon and nuances. When this happens, physicians have the added responsibility of editing the information, which can be time-consuming. There is a practical solution – voice recognition software output can be proofread by professional medical transcription companies to ensure utmost accuracy. Having a professional transcriptionist to read, edit and enter patient information would ensure error-free medical records and enable physicians to provide quality patient care.

Popularity of Telemedicine Is Expected to Continue Even After COVID-19

28-May-2020 Rajeev Rajagopal Medical Transcription

Telemedicine

With the global lockdown forced by the Covid-19 epidemic and the subsequent challenges faced by healthcare among other business sectors, doctors and other healthcare providers are relying more on telemedicine, a digital mechanism to remotely connect with patients. Telemedicine is the process of medical information exchange from one site to another via electronic communication to treat patients efficiently. It provides remote consultation facility and does not require a visit to the doctor. Just as for in-person healthcare services, telemedicine also requires accurate medical documentation preferably with the help of a medical transcription service.

Telemedicine technology has been around for more than 20 years but quickly made its way into the mainstream during the current pandemic as a practical way of providing patients with the necessary medical services. Before COVID-19, only 10 percent of patients used telemedicine but today many provider organizations are looking for better ways to use the technology to its full potential. Hospitals and doctors are using this technology to keep the unaffected patients safe and it also helps them interact with the patients. Another advantage of telemedicine is less cost and the ability to extend primary care services to those geographically distant from healthcare resources.

Telemedicine is not just video calling your doctor. It includes applications such as remote monitoring and even remote or robot-assisted surgeries. By 2030, there will be a large majority of people who are 65 or more years of age. With more people living in the countryside and leading a sedentary life, health issues like obesity, diabetes etc. could increase. In such a scenario, this new technology can be used by healthcare providers to improve healthcare efficiency, deliver improved outcomes, and better manage costs. Efficiency can be increased by using machine algorithm that helps to read X-ray images more accurately and more quickly than human radiologists, freeing up clinicians to work on more complex tasks. It can also personalize health instructions; and insurers can focus more on preventive care, reduce waste and lower cost. Digitization of healthcare has shown two trends, firstly, patients are becoming more involved in decisions about their care, thanks to the easier availability of health data. Secondly, payers – both governments and private insurers – are paying ever more attention to value for money in their healthcare budgets.

According to Market Study Report LLC’s new report on U.S telemedicine Market, the market is expected to exceed USD 64.0 billion by 2025. Technological advancements related to mobile phones and internet usage, along with rising demand for cost-saving in healthcare delivery are the main factors that are driving the U.S. telemedicine market.

Some major findings of the U.S. telemedicine market report are:

Rising existence of chronic diseases is one of the major factors boosting adoption of telemedicine services to offer better home supervision.
Increased usage of smartphones in the U.S. is leading to the growth of telemedicine.
Mobile phones combined with attachable scanners or wearable devices are the most significant tools for self-diagnosis.
Several new apps in smartphones help patients schedule appointments with their doctors, and thereby manage their health and save money on treatments.
Many healthcare facilities have implemented telemedicine services to enhance their operational capability, thus augmenting business growth.

Telemedicine technology allows patients to avail quality consultation, monitoring, electronic house calls, and treatments from remote locations that lack medical services. It can connect patients, and facilitate an efficient global healthcare system. It also saves costs and helps provide better care in locations where the quality of healthcare is not up to the mark. The quality of healthcare provided using telemedicine can be further improved with error-free documentation from professional medical transcription services.

Ensuring HIPAA Compliance with Widespread Remote Work Adoption

25-May-2020 MTS TEAM HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA Compliance

In recent days, many organizations have switched to remote work due to the pandemic. In healthcare, too, many providers are working from home and also relying on telehealth to monitor patients from a distance. However, working remotely has brought on the challenge of HIPAA compliance. The American Medical Association has emphasized that while certain HIPAA requirements related to telemedicine are not being enforced during the COVID-19 public health emergency, generally, HIPAA privacy, security, and breach notification requirements must continue to be followed. Among other things, this implies that providers should take extra precautions to ensure the confidentiality of patient data when staff are working from home and also outsource their EHR-related documentation tasks only to HIPAA-compliant medical transcription companies.

Having HIPAA compliant solutions means that every covered entity and business associate who accesses protected health information (PHI) must ensure that the necessary technical, physical and administrative safeguards are in place in compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule to protect the integrity of PHI.

Technical safeguards refer to the technology used to protect electronic PHI (ePHI) and provide access to data
Physical safeguards relate to the physical access to ePHI whether it is stored in a remote location or in on-premise data center of HIPAA covered entity (such as that of a HIPAA compliant medical transcription company). The physical location where ePHI is stored must be secure and safe against unauthorized access.
Administrative safeguards focus on the policies and procedures implemented by an organization for the maintenance of security measures that protect patient health information.

However, the government’s move to temporarily suspend penalties for noncompliance of HIPAA rules surrounding telehealth communications has made this compliance much more difficult, notes a recent HealthTech article. The notice from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights regarding provision of telehealth says:

Covered health care providers may use popular applications that allow for video chats, including Apple FaceTime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangouts video, Zoom, or Skype, to provide telehealth without risk that OCR might seek to impose a penalty for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules related to the good faith provision of telehealth during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency.

To be HIPAA compliant, these video calling services must also have security features such as end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and access controls to safeguard PHI. While video conferencing tools like GoToMeeting, Skype and Zoom are HIPAA compliant, Apple’s Facetime is not. Ultimately, the reliability of these platforms depends on using them in a HIPPA-compliant manner (www.compliancy-group.com). Users must be wary of hackers who are taking advantage of this public health emergency to gain access to hospital networks.

As the pandemic pushes healthcare organizations to make changes in their procedures and workflows to support business continuity, including allowing employees to work at home, they need to take steps to beef up cybersecurity and maintain the confidentiality of PHI. Here are 8 steps that healthcare organizations can take to set up remote workspaces for HIPAA adherence:

hipaa compliance

As remote work and care becomes a common practice, these steps will become even more important to maintain HIPAA compliance. The bottom-line: all staff should stay HIPAA compliant, regardless of location.

Healthcare organizations should also ensure that any third-party vendor they contract with, such as a medical transcription service provider, complies with all HIPAA protocols, rules and regulations. A reliable business associate would have the following measures in place to protect valuable patient data:

poster

Outsourcing medical transcription to such a company will ensure that PHI is used and transferred with proper access and in accordance with the defined safeguards.

Key Factors driving Growth of Medical Transcription Services

21-May-2020 Julie Clements Medical Transcription

Medical Transcription Services

Electronic Health Records (EHR) have transformed the way physician document care. It was believed that EHRs would put an end to need for medical transcription services. However, physicians find EHR data entry a complex and stressful task that took away from the time they have to engage with patients. That’s why most physicians continue to rely on medical transcription companies to ensure consistent and accurate documentation of patient encounters in the EHR.

The medical transcription market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. According to Data Bridge Market Research analysis the market is growing at a CAGR of 6.9 percent during the same forecast period. The increasing spread of various chronic disorders like melanoma, cardiovascular, and, diabetes disorders have increased the volume of medical documentation. The report segments the medical transcription market on the basis of service type, technology, mode of procurement and end user. On the basis of technology, the market is divided into electronic medical records/electronic health record (EMR/EHR), speech recognition technology (SRT), picture archiving and communication system (PACS), radiology information system (RIS), and so on.

Healthcare professionals are responsible for drafting notes. Using an audio recorder or smart phone app physicians can record vital signs of the patients, the details of the diagnosis, medication and follow up details. These audio recording can be converted and inserted into the EHR section. Hiring a professional to transcribe these recording helps to save time and ensure accuracy of medical records.

Digital medical transcription makes life easier for healthcare professionals. It is the process of digitally recording all vital details of the patient, ranging from patient histories to summaries of the visit along with diagnosis, prescription, physician recommendations, lab reports and so on. It helps healthcare professionals avoid EHR data entry and allows them to focus on providing quality care and boost workplace efficiency. With patients accessing their medical records, the explanations and instructions have to be clear and simple so that they can understand and comply with treatment recommendations to achieve positive outcomes. Digital transcription helps to improve patient outcomes and promotes better engagement between doctors and patients.

Various studies have shown that the error rate of voice recognition software in medical industry is 7%, out of which 5.7% of errors being clinically significant. It is estimated that every page generated with voice recognition software will have an error that will likely end up negatively impacting patient outcomes. However, reliable medical transcription companies have trained transcriptionists who can understand dictation errors and ensure 99 percent accuracy in documentation.

Today medical transcription service providers provide customized services at affordable rates. With their advanced digital documentation solutions, they help physicians and other healthcare professionals to focus on providing quality patient care.

Key Tips for Conducting Telemedicine Visits [INFOGRAPHIC]

18-May-2020 Rajeev Rajagopal Infographics

Telemedicine is proven to be an effective option, especially to meet the care challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with supporting social distancing, it also allows physicians to engage with patients without in-person consults and reduce chances of spread by preventing exposure in waiting rooms. Reliable medical transcription companies support physicians in documenting their virtual encounters.

Check out the infographic below

telemedicine

Concierge Medicine – A Feasible Option to Meet the Current and Future Challenges in Healthcare

14-May-2020 Rajeev Rajagopal Healthcare News

Concierge Medicine

As a medical transcription company based in the U.S., we have kept pace with the developments in the healthcare industry, especially the switch to electronic record-keeping. We serve different types of healthcare facilities and organizations, including concierge medical practices. In the concierge medicine model, which first made its appearance in the mid-1990s, patients pay an additional cost for a boutique healthcare experience.

An article published by NPR in January 2020 noted that concierge medicine is getting more affordable, but is still not widespread. Today, reports say that there is a surge in interest in concierge medicine as independent primary care providers find it difficult to cope with the challenges of the 2019-nCoV public health emergency. A recent Medical Economics report says that the same factors that made concierge practices resilient enough to survive sweeping health care reform have enabled them to withstand the current COVID-19 crisis.

What is concierge medicine? ConciergeMedicineToday.com defines concierge medicine is a form of membership in which doctors provide medical care to patients generally providing 24/7 access, a cell phone number to connect directly with their physician, same-day appointments, visits that last as long as it takes to address their needs and varying other amenities. The concierge physician receives a fee in return for these services, which allows them to spend more time with patients.

How is concierge healthcare different from direct primary care (DPC)? Direct care physicians do not accept money from insurance and charge a monthly fee of less than $100 per month which generally covers unlimited patient visits. On the other hand, concierge physicians usually collect insurance payment, charge an additional higher monthly fee, and focus on offering value-added services (outside what is covered by insurance) such as vascular scans, “executive” lab panels, extended office visits, and even accompanying patients to specialist visits (www.medicaleconomics.com).

Why are experts referring to concierge medicine as an effective alternative to meet the current and future challenges in healthcare? According to a Medical Economics article published May 11, 2020, the novel coronavirus pandemic has put heavy pressure on the financial, clinical and operational aspects primary care. On the other hand, the report notes that concierge practices have greater strength to withstand these pressures of the current situation due to the following advantages:

More reliable cash flows from annual membership revenues in the range of $1,800 – $2,000.
Better patient retention and a more consistent patient base.
A more extensive patient base (250 and 600 patients) than primary care patient panels, improving management of outreach, communication and care.
Prompt and effective use of digital communication and telehealth to serve the elderly and those with chronic conditions, with higher satisfaction rates among both patients and physicians.
Manageable staffing, typically comprising one physician (for 600 patients) along with just two or three staff members.

In contrast, primary care practices are facing debt obligations, volume-based performance demands, declining reimbursements, increasing administrative challenges, and overall burnout. The Medical Economics report points out that concierge medicine offers more flexibility and stability, personalized care and greater satisfaction for physicians and their patients, making it a feasible alternative to restructure the current and future challenges of primary care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on telemedicine as an effective way to connect patients, physicians and health systems, while keeping them safe with social distancing. One of the most robust additional services that concierge healthcare providers deliver is immediate routine and emergency telemedicine diagnosis and treatment. Forbes cites Daniel Carlin M.D., founder and President of WorldClinic, is a pioneer in the field of “total care” medicine as saying:

“By providing customized prescription medical kits with 24/7 phone and video access to a team of physicians who have a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s medical situation, we’re able to deliver emergency care that has been proven to save lives time and again”.

When concierge medicine took its initial steps, the purpose was to provide luxury medical care. According to NPR.org, high-quality primary medical care is becoming more affordable. The emergence of lower-priced models will possibly change the conception that concierge medicine is reserved for an elite group. And as this primary care model gains traction, good medical records are essential for the continuity of care of patients. Physicians can rely on medical transcription outsourcing companies to meet this requirement.