Medical Transcription Outsourcing - Savings at What Cost!
Advancement in technology results in a rapidly changing global economy. This is opening up medical transcription globally. The outsourcing of medical transcription is a debatable topic. Let’s look at a few of the arguments.
1. Cost savings would be the main reason 2. Increased work flow and productivity 3. Minimum turnaround time - Why not outsource your medical transcription work? 1. Quality concerns 2. Patient privacy 3. Extra time spent editing/transferring to institution’s platform 4. Expense of a potential lawsuit if patient information exposed or accessed illegally 5. English grammar concerns and punctuation Now let’s take a look at who may be completing the outsourcing or sub contracting work. It is likely to be either newbie medical transcriptionist’s charging lower line rates or lower paid non-US medical transcriptionists.
• Affordable prices • Quality output • Increased work flow and productivity • Professional, well qualified and experienced medical transcriptionists • Minimum turnaround • Deadlines to be met every time As technology moves forward the opportunity for outsourcing work becomes more available. The main countries besides the United States providing medical transcription services are Canada and the United Kingdom, both strong in English, India, the Philippines and Pakistan. India is one of the top countries for medical transcription outsourcing. They have a large pool of IT professionals, and can provide a quality source of medical transcription services.
Time zone differences with the US can mean that a quicker turnaround can be provided by outsourcing to India. If you are considering medical transcription outsourcing globally, test first, and if you decide to commit to the service, perform random quality checks on a regular scheduled basis. Look for staff that are qualified above AAMT standards and institutions which are HIPAA compliant.
To give you an example in 2003 there was a case where a Pakistani transcriber threatened the UCSF medical centre to post patients’ confidential files on the Internet unless she was paid more money. US institutions often contract at least a part of their medical transcription work out to global medical transcription firms. These firms also frequently subcontract with other companies. This sort of situation really does challenge the privacy of patient records. Make sure that consideration is given to confidentiality, security, quality, efficiency of the service and that all medical transcription outsourced is controlled.
1. Grasp the latest technology and use it to their advantage – consider voice recognition software, find out how it works and determine if there is any way this technology can help in being more productive. Ask yourself ‘how else can I become more productive?’ 2. Think outside the square – where else can macros be used? Can technology help anywhere? Put yourself in the shoes of the person paying you and think of any ways you can help them? 3. Maintain your quality and experience. 4. Believe in yourself, confidence will help you to progress. 5. Be consistent with your work. 6. Adhere to deadlines. 7. If you are an independent contractor, can you find a group of other medical transcriptionists you can link with as a team, supporting one another over holidays, sickness and for moral support? 8. Perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of your work/business. It will ground you and help you understand your work situation. Return from MT Outsourcing to, Medical Transcription Services
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