Monday, October 1, 2012

Identifying the Best Medical Transcription Services

Outsourcing medical transcription services have now become popular because of the benefits it has for medical practitioners. Identifying the best transcription service provider who suits your needs is the most challenging task. Especially because there are a number of providers offering these services and you will have to compare a list of features between them to decide on the final choice for outsourcing your transcription work. This article discusses the three areas to be assessed to identify the best transcription agencies for your requirements.
Experience Of The Service Provider
First of all you will require making a list of companies who are providing these services and choose the ones who have a good experience in this field. Experience of the service provider would mean that they know this field and they understand the need for accuracy and timeliness. The knowledge level of the staffs working with them would also be good and would be well versed in the medical terminologies used for medical transcription. You may go through the clientele, and contact a few of them personally to get feedback on their services.
Efficiency In Services Rendered
The efficiency of the service provider would major depend on the turnaround time and cost. You require choosing a service provider who offers a turnaround time of less than 24 hours. Some of the companies have transcriptions working from eastern countries; this would ensure you have your transcripts ready when you step in for work the next day. There are transcription services who offer a delivery time of 4 to 6 hours but these might be expensive than the others. You may choose the turnaround time depending on your requirements. Most of the service providers charge per line transcribed. You will require seeing through their billing process thoroughly to rule out any hidden fees or rework fees. You may also ask them on how much it would cost you to move you present patient records to the new system.
Online medical transcription services offer a number of options to submit your dictations online like digital recorders, software for dictation and toll-free numbers. You may choose the dictation method convenient to you. They also offer editing and reviews of reports online. They usually follow a specific format in which they would be delivering the transcript, so you may want to look through the format and see if you require any changes to be done to improve readability.
HIPAA Complaint
HIPAA compliance is essential to ensure that patient's records are protected, especially because the information is being processed in service provider's environment and the information is transmitted over the internet. Medical transcription services operating from outside the country also require being HIPAA complaint. This would ensure that patient's medical identity is protected.