Medical Transcription Equipment and Technologies

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.

Medical Billing Rules

Medical billing procedures are governed by certain laws. Those who work in this field and are directly involved in collecting the medical fees have especially to be aware of these basic rules and regulations. What is the main purpose of medical billing? Well it is just to make sure that the service provider receives fair payment for services provided and also that payment is received in time. What are main laws that govern medical billing? They include,

• Fair debt Collection Act
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• The Privacy Rule

The Fair debt collection Act is a federal law that dictates how and when should a debt is to be collected. This act is for protection of the patients and consumers from unlawful threats.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 which is better known as the HIPAA was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. HIPAA has two titles.

Title I of HIPAA regulates the availability and breadth of group and individual health insurance plans. It amends both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Public Health Service Act. This act also prohibits any group health plan from creating eligibility rules or deciding of insurance premiums for individuals in the plan based on health status, medical history, genetic information, or disability.

The second title of HIPAA contains a portion that increases the efficiency of data exchange for healthcare financial transactions and protects the privacy of electronic data transmission and the confidentiality of patient records. If the HIPPA rules are violated, penalties can be imposed. Title II of HIPAA defines numerous offenses relating to health care and sets civil and criminal penalties for them. It also creates several programs to control fraud and abuse within the health care system.

The privacy rule regulates the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI is any information about health status, provision of health care, or payment for health care that can be linked to an individual. Any person who believes that the Privacy Rule is not being upheld can file a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers highly professional outsourced services in medical coding, medical billing and medical transcription.

Medical Transcription: Faster Than Average Growth Predicted for Coming Decade

The U.S. Department of Labor has projected that jobs in the medical transcription field will increase faster than average in the coming decade as the health care industry will continue to grow. See details at, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos271.htm#projections_data

What are the main reasons for this expected growth?

• Aging population is on the rise
• More medical tests /treatment
• More medical procedures

Many people within the US are expected to get trained and certified to join the medical transcription industry. Also an increase in domestic as well as offshore outsourcing of the medical transcription projects can be predicted. Getting good quality transcription work done at highly competitive rates from Asian countries like India and the Philippines has been a good method to reduce the overall health care expenses. To ensure good quality services from Asian countries International certifications are being made available to the medical transcription, coding and billing professionals in India. So that medical outsourcing can get better. For more details, go here.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers highly cost effective and professional services in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.

Medical Coding: The ICD-10-PCS (Procedure Coding System)

Procedure codes are numbers or alphanumeric codes used to identify specific health interventions taken by medical professionals. The ICD-10-PCS is a system of medical coding used for procedure codes.

The coding professional world is getting trained and waiting for the implementation of the ICD-10-PCS (Procedure Coding System). Developed by The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) this new procedure coding system will be a successor to Volume 3 of ICD-9-CM and a modified version of the original ICD-10. Who is responsible for the implementation of the new coding system? Well it is the World Health Organization (WHO) that gave permission to the NCHS to develop the ICD-10-PCS and only the WHO has to decide on the date when the new system will replace the ICD-9-CM. The ICD-10-CM is the proposed replacement for ICD-9-CM, Volumes 1 & 2. Has the rest of the world also been implementing similar processes? Here is a document on the assessment of the ICD-10 in the South East Asia region from the WHO website http://whqlibdoc.who.int/searo/2002/SEA_HS_220.pdf

Take a look at the NCHS Homepage at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/Default.htm

Every medical code has seven characters that can be alphanumeric (either alphabets or numbers) These are the characters.

• Section
• Body System
• Root Operation
• Body Part
• Approach
• Device
• Qualifier

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional outsourcing solutions in medical coding, medical billing and medical transcription.

AAPC 2008 National Medical Coding Conference in Orlando

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) had announced that the Sixteenth National Conference will be held in Orlando, FL from June 8th – 11th, 2008. (Please note that another additional annual conference is to be held in Disneyland Hotel January 9 - 12, 2008 and so this would probably be the sixteenth conference and not the Orlando one and registrations have already closed.).

The Orlando conference is said to be a combination of outstanding speakers presenting the most up-to-date coding information and will also be a fun relaxing vacation atmosphere for the whole family. Speakers will include coders, physicians, attorneys, payers, billers, and others.

Registration link:
https://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Register/IdentityConfirmation.aspx?e=d723ab71-a4f1-4cf5-bdaa-0c2bad3f3077

Conference agenda is at http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Agenda.aspx?e=d723ab71-a4f1-4cf5-bdaa-0c2bad3f3077

As an attendee you will experience,

• 70 vendors showcasing their latest products
• Networking with colleagues, physicians and educators
• Over 30 educational sessions
• A gathering of top coding professionals from all over the country

For quick and cost effective solutions in outsourcing medical coding / billing and transcription do contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI) the Oklahoma based medical transcription company.

Medical Transcription Software

As of today, medical transcription is still preferred to be done manually but a lot of effort and research is going on to develop a software program and make transcription a totally automatic process. With our present day technology medical transcription software and other tools can be of great help to the professional medical transcriptionists. It can greatly reduce the work time and also increase the work productivity and efficiency. But the actual transcription and voice recognition has not been perfected, and thus cannot be totally depended upon.. One cannot yet expect the software to recognize words and use logic like a human being to perfectly come up with the right word all the time. However this is a dynamically evolving area and over the years perfection in automated transcription could become a reality.

So how is it that the present day medical transcriptionists use these software products? When audio dictations from doctors and healthcare professionals are recorded and sent to the transcriber the software is used to create a first draft which is then quickly reviewed by the transcriptionist and edited.

Some of the features / functions of MT software include,

• Capture of the voice
• Speech processing
• Speech recognition
• Document formatting
• Support wide range of audio/video formats
• Remote control /keyboard short cuts
• Quick editing
• Electronic signature
• Document distribution
• Support /manage different time frame rates
• Create time codes and navigate to any specific timeline
• Customize media appearance
• Audio playback possible
• Import data with different settings in text or XML
• Integrates with other healthcare systems
• Easy printing
• Exports / insertions made possible

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers high quality and affordable outsourced services in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.

Medical Transcription Journals

The Journal of the American Association for Medical Transcription (JAAMT) keeps medical transcriptionists up-to-date on the trends and challenges affecting medical transcription. The journal has a frequency of 6 issues per year. The information in JAAMT is vital to all who pursue excellence in medical transcription, from the medical transcription student to the most experienced medical transcriptionist. JAAMT has been dedicated to the advancement of medical transcription through the education and development of medical transcriptionists as medical language professionals for over 20 years.

The JAAMT site is at http://www.jaamtonline.com/

Members of the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) can access content published in JAAMT by completing their login through the association's website at http://www.aamt.org/. Non members and non subscribers can choose to set up a one time guest account for purchase of online articles.

Health Matrix (formerly JAAMT) is a bimonthly business and technology journal that is packed with content that addresses the evolving trends and emerging technologies of today's healthcare documentation marketplace as well as legislative advocacy, cutting-edge clinical medicine, and professional practice issues. It also targets all sectors of the transcription market, including service owners, quality assurance professionals, Health IT experts, medical transcriptionists, medical editors, and others with an interest in health data capture and documentation. Subscriptions are at http://www.lww.com/product/?1936-2994

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional outsourced services in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding.

Medical Coding / Billing and H.C.P.C.S

Medical coding/ billing is today one of the 10 fastest-growing allied health occupations. Medical coding and billing professionals are responsible for submitting the proper documents to the various insurance companies and federal agencies for reimbursement of the medical expenses. Medical coders use special codes to specifically identify outpatient and also inpatient procedures / services and this is very useful for billing of both private as well as public insurance companies.

HCPCS stands for Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. It is a set of health care procedure codes based on the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT). See the official website of HCPCS at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedHCPCSGenInfo

Established in the year 1978, HCPCS provides a standardized coding system for describing the specific items and services provided in the delivery of health care. This type of coding ensures that insurance claims are processed properly and is needed by Medicare, Medicaid, and other health insurance programs.

HCPCS codes exist in two levels.

• Level I is numerical and consists of the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
• Level II codes are alphanumeric and meant for non-physician health services.

It is very essential for medical coders to keep in touch with the latest codes and changes. This is possible by the use of HCPCS books that contain the complete lists of HCPCS Level II codes with descriptions and guide the medical coder through current modifiers, code changes, additions and deletions.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers outsourced services in medical coding, medical billing and medical transcription for clients in the US and worldwide.

Medical Coding: Live Audio Conference on 2008 Updates

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AACP) is now offering audio conferences with various topics throughout the year. Professional coders can get coding education from a qualified presenter while obtaining CEUs (continuing education units) online. Each session is for 90 minutes and one can listen and interact with the presenters. Each session is worth 1.5 CEUs.

Details of Upcoming schedules:

• December 18th 2007 (Radiology Coding)
• December 19th 2007 (Opthalmology Coding)Update

December 18, 2007 (2008 Update Radiology Specialty)

What will the update cover?

• Can get the skinny on new codes and the latest on the federal government's OIG work plan, fee schedule issues, and instructions on new modifiers for 2008 - all targeted to the important 2008 coding and compliance issues of radiology.
• Highlights on the 2008 CPT® and 2008 ICD-9-CM changes. For CPT® 2008, there are 242 new codes, 298 revised codes, and 364 deleted codes. These code changes must be implemented by January 1.

CPT

Understand the latest CPT code and modifier updates that are specific to radiology with instructions for successfully implementing them into your practice. Learn how these changes will affect your organization, and how you can prepare effectively.

HCPCS Level II

Successfully implement the Medicare rules for new and revised HCPCS Level II codes. BONUS: We also cover ICD-9-CM
Find out how the ICD-9-CM changes (effective Oct. 1, 2007) will alter the way you code and how it affects your reimbursement.

Details on the Ophthalmology conference scheduled for December 19th can be seen at http://www.aapc.com/onlinestore/item-details.aspx?pid=5140&id=141

Conference registration forms can be accessed at http://www.aapc.com/documents/Workshop_Audio%20Reg.pdf

AACP Membership details are at http://www.aapc.com/membership/index.aspx

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company offering professional solutions for all medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription outsourcing.

Medical Coding Gold Standard to Be Represented In India

The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) provides certified credentials to medical coders in physician offices, hospital outpatient facilities, and ambulatory surgical centers and in payer organizations. All members of AAPC agree to a Code of Ethics that ensures high levels of professionalism, integrity and ethical behavior. The three certifications CPC, CPC-H, and CPC-P are the gold standard certifications for medical coding.

Perot Systems is a worldwide provider of information technology services and business solution. AAPC announced that, Perot Systems has been selected to represent AAPC in South India including the south Indian cities of Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Thus teaming up with AAPC for representation in South India Perot Systems will be conducting the certifications in South India. There is also American rural coding initiative to serve medical coders in the rural parts of the USA itself.

See the full report at http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/884247/

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company offering both domestic as well as offshore India / Philippines based outsourcing in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.

Medical Coding and Billing Certifications

Professional Medical coding and billing is an important part of the healthcare industry. This is because all data details of a patient are very essential especially because it helps to keep clear of possible legal issues and also to immediately provide complete reimbursement for all the medical expenses of a patient.

What do the medical billers and coders do? They are responsible for the collection, maintenance and analysis of all patient data which is required by the doctors and nurses etc for treatment and cure of the patient. Medical coding and billing certification certificate programs are offered online by different colleges and Universities and is targeted at those who plan to start a new career in medical coding and medical billing. There are courses also for those who are already working as medical coders but want to take the certification exam.

Some of the major curriculum inclusions are the coding principals for inpatient and outpatient hospitals and a study of the three main coding manuals: CPT, ICD-9-CM, and HCPCS.

What are the different government certifications exams that can be taken and what are the certificates? They are,

• American Medical Billing Association (AMBA) CMRS Exam and become a Certified Medical reimbursement Specialist (CMRS).
• American Academy of Professional Coder's (AAPC) Exam and become a Certified Professional coder (CPC )
• American Health Information Management Association's (CCS or CCS-P) board exam.

Official site for CMRS is http://www.ambanet.net/cmrs.htm. The official site for CPC is http://www.aapc.com/certification/cpc.aspx and for CSS (Certified Coding Specialist) is at http://www.ahima.org/certification/ccs.asp

Completion of the online medical billing and coding program can not only help students in getting the university's certificate and help in the preparation for the certification exams in medical billing and coding but also earn them semester credits. Government aid programs are usually available for the students pursuing degrees and taking credits per term.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers services in medical billing, medical coding, and medical transcription.

Medical Coding AHIMA Seminar

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) will conduct a two day seminar called “Achieving Coding Excellence” at Colorado Springs, CO, on February 28-29, 2008.

The meeting is focused at Coding professionals, Managers of coding, Coding Consultants and others involved in the reporting or use of coded data in hospital settings including both long term care and acute care.

Here is the meet’s agenda http://www.ahima.org/coding/documents/Agendaforwebsite11.30.07.pdf

By attending the conference one can,

• Gain appreciation for how the consistency of coded data and the role of data quality in measuring compliance and quality of care reporting.
• Understand the impact of the new MCC/CC codes, documentation requirements, and query opportunities
• What’s new in the ICD-10-CM classification system
• Apply coding guidelines and expand clinical knowledge for coding specific challenges.
• Awareness of the coder’s role in emerging clinical terminologies and classification systems in electronic health record.

Registration details are available at http://www.ahima.org/coding/2008CCRegistration.asp

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional services in medical billing, medical coding and medical transcription.

AHDI / MTIA Advocacy Summit 2008

AHDI (Association of Healthcare Documentation Integrity) and MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) will conduct the third annual Advocacy Summit from May 15-17, 2008 at Rockville, MD. Registration can be done either for a single day or for all three days.

Are you a Healthcare Documentation Specialist and want to make your voice heard on Capitol Hill? The event is a great opportunity for professional medical transcription Industry people and organizations who can learn how to schedule appointments with their legislators and will be exposed to the talking points to intelligently speak on the issues facing their profession.

The official Advocacy hotel is the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rockville, Washington, DC.

The Advocacy Summit is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2008 and morning of Friday, May 16, 2008 while the educational sessions are scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, May 19 2008 and Saturday, May 17, 2008. Take a look at the AHDI advocacy Summit User’s guide at http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/Downloads/AdvocacySummitUsersGuide08.pdf

MTIA members can avail discounted rates. For more details on the rates and registration for the Summit go to http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/AdvocacySummit.cfm

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers total solutions in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding.

Medical Transcription Industry Conference 2008

The Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) will conduct their 19th annual conference, MTIA Conference 2008, in California from April 23-26, 2008. The venue is Hyatt Regency, the standout luxurious hotel in the Long Beach area.

Online registrations can be done at https://www.mtia.com/ConfReg08.cfm

Registration forms can be downloaded at http://www.mtia.com/downloads/Conf08RegForm.pdf

If you want to see all the other MTIA events that are scheduled for 2008 go to http://www.mtia.com/events.cfm

Contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI), the US based medical transcription company that offers total outsourcing solutions in medical transcription, medical billing and medical coding.

Outsourcing Medical Work

Outsourcing is the process where a third party (who may be located domestically or in a offshore country) is used to perform a company’s in-house work. Outsourcing has many benefits and may involve many different types of activities.

Medical outsourcing of health sector back office processes like transcription, coding, and billing is growing by the day. Medical outsourcing work groups in offshore Asian countries like India and the Philippines are constantly trained to be conversant in US guidelines and standards and services like medical transcription is delivered on a daily or even a few hours turnaround basis.

In recent years medical outsourcing has taken a different path where people are seen taking flights out of the US to get surgeries done. Expensive heart or spine surgeries from cheaper countries mean savings in tens of thousands of dollars. Look at this 2006 Time magazine article titled “Outsourcing Your Heart” at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1196429,00.html

One of the main reasons for the high cost of medical expenses in the US has been due to the lack of competition. Countries like India are planning and focusing on their medical tourism industry where patients from around the world will come for getting high quality health services at competitive rates. As India is a developing country development growth in this type of surgery outsourcing has to develop gradually. But when it comes to processes like medical transcription or medical billing India and the Philippines have already become the world’s favorite destinations.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers total outsourcing solutions in medical transcription, medical billing, and medical coding.

Medical Billing Career

Medical billing is the process of submitting claims to insurance companies and following up to receive the payment for various speciality health services rendered by a health care provider. Medical billing is in itself a specialty area of work and professional medical billers are real experts at claim reimbursements.

Now if you are thinking of becoming a medical billing person, the foremost thing to do is to try and know a bit about the profession, the required skills and abilities and also determine which medical speciality area is preferable to you. It is also essential to know about medical transcription and the medical billing software.

All billing work can be outsourced to professional medical billers who will coordinate between the patient and the health providers/ doctors anytime during the claims process. Transcription work is usually outsourced to some third party who will be from a different location. It is the billing software that links the actual billing and the electronic documents and transcripts that are transcribed from audio recordings by the medical transcriptionist. All health service aspects have specific medical codes. The medical billing personnel must be familiar and also an expert in record keeping. He must also familiarize himself with the various medical codes besides being at ease with various other healthcare standards and certifications.

Medical billing professional can take the CMRS (Certified Medical Reimbursement Specialists) exam which is a voluntary, national credential for the medical billing profession. The CMRS designation is awarded by the Certifying Board of the American Medical Billing Association.For more details go to the AMBA (American Medical Billing Association ) website at, http://www.ambanet.net/AMBA.htm

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional yet affordable services in medical billing, medical transcription and medical coding.

Medical Transcription and the Accuracy of Medical Documents

The technique of medical writing is different from other writing as seen in literature or while writing essays or articles for publications. How is it different? Some of the typical features seen in medical writing:

• Has lots of abbreviations
• Have brief forms
• Shortcut language /word coinage

Medical transcriptionists do not have to bring out a polished document, or rewriting it several times like done by other writers, especially as they always have to work at a fast pace with a high level of accuracy. It is not expected of them to do any creative form of writing at all. However it is essential that a medical transcription should produce a clean and accurate transcription of the source document /dictation.

Adherence to prescribed or suggested stylistic guidelines as prescribed by the agency is very important. These can be vendor specific instructions with regards to editing, punctuation, or the grammar. However in the absence of any specific guide lines transcriptionists can follow the general rules as followed by other transcription professionals.

Challenges in transcribing mainly are seen because dictations are never ever close to being perfect. While dictating, doctors may even make mistaken or contradicting statements due to slip of tongue. Here it is up to the transcriptionist to be alert to all such issues and correct all such dictation mistakes done by the physician.

A sound knowledge of all medical terms and by listening and handling a wide variety of such dictations make a transcriptionist becomes experienced to face all types of audio files. But if a transcriptionist can keep listening to any particular physician on a regular basis and works on the same voice files then he/she can get quite used to a physican's personal style of dictation and can quickly produce a very accurate transcript.

The secret of the art of medical transcription is not in being aggressive but to be as subtle and careful as possible. Also it is very essential to have an attitude to impress and always get a favorable response from the dictator. Having a keen sense of awareness/ alertness to the possible mistakes in dictations along with good listening skills will go a long way in becoming a successful MT professional. However while editing a dictation one must also know where to draw the line and must be careful never to overdo it.

Contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI) a US based medical transcription company that offers highly accurate services in medical coding, billing and transcription at affordable rates.

Medical Transcription Courses on the Internet

Medical transcription is a vast subject and requires equally varied courses. It is of great convenience today that online transcription schools are offering all types of transcription courses that can be taken from the comfort of one's house itself.

Courses offered by these transcription schools do give a certificate upon the successful completion of the course. They usually have affiliation to a higher university/body. Finding a good online medical transcription school first requires the person to just browse the Internet and go to the various online sites and choose the right course. Like the regular offline colleges these online schools also offer training in the same subjects like,

• Medical terminology
• Physiology
• Ethics
• Anatomy

Certain MT schools offer practical lab tests and medical procedure orientation programs. A professional MT should be able to transcribe from the audio recordings and should be familiar with all medical terms. This is what these online schools strive to achieve. Even though much depends on the commitment and the motivation of the student, online schools do teach all what is in their syllabus and also assist in immediate job placements for the successful students.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription outsourcing service provider offering professional yet cost effective services in medical transcription, medical billing and coding, medical transcription in Philippine, medical record coding and advanced medical coding.

Medical Transcription and the US-India Time Difference

Doctors and other medical professionals across USA treat diseases and take care of the sick all day long. But just treating or curing is not enough. The why, what, how, and when details of every single patient that walked into a hospital has to go on digital record as is required by law. So after finishing every single process /procedure doctors are seen talking in and recording into Dictaphones.

Who will listen to these miles of hi-tech tapes? Well that is the medical transcription professional's job who must transcribe every uttered word into text to be stored as printed or electronic data and to become accessible in the future worldwide if required. Actually medical transcription has always been there since ages. The medical transcribers of yesteryears were usually those who assisted the doctors and manually made note of the patient and the treatment details.

Outsourcing of Medical transcription to Asia is very favorable. Of course primarily because Indian labor is good and cheaper and also because of the low TAT (Turn Around Time). All voice recordings are sent can get transcribed by the next day morning itself. Is it that someone sits all night and transcribes those tapes? Yes and No. Let me explain. The days audio files are daily sent by evening to India where it is now day break. (due to the natural 12 hour time difference) The data is then transcribed during the day (Indian day) and uploaded back via the Internet to the US in the evening (Indian evening) where it is going to be dawn. So the doctors are happy when they come in next day and see all there yesterday's dictations in print or as transcripts. Now isn't that naturally convenient?

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers professional outsourced services in medical billing, advanced medical coding and all types of medical transcription for clinics and hospitals in all the US states besides the UK, Australia and Canada.

Medical Transcription Jobs are in Demand

It is predicted that medical transcription professionals will be in demand and a lot of job openings will be available for them over the coming years. This is because there is this continuous growth of the health care sector triggered by the increase in the percentage of ageing population. So when more facilities come up it will mean generation of more health sector jobs including for the medical transcription professionals.

Where is the actual need for medical transcription generated in the health sector? Well there are various areas where the MTs can work. These include any place with medical facilities like,

• Hospitals
• Physician's office
• Transcription service provider's premises
• Diagnostic laboratories
• Business support service offices

No more is an MT's job restricted to offices. Many medical transcriptionists now prefer to work from the comfort of their homes. The digital technology and the Internet revolution has made it possible for MTs to now work from any global location as long as they are connected to the Internet. The working hours are also flexible as is found convenient to both parties.

Medical transcriptionists can be regular employees for hospitals working from homes or self styled contracted freelancers working on short term or long term projects.A good MT professional must be certified and must either complete a 1 year certificate course or a 2 years associate's program. Some of the challenges faced by these MT professionals include, long work hours and stress and poor quality of audio recordings.

Current salary range for the medical transcription professional is from $10.00 to $20.00 per hour. MTs can evolve into editors and consultants or become instructors. As of today the future seems to be bright for those choosing to get into this field of work.

Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a US based medical transcription company that offers outsourcing services in medical billing, coding and transcription for clients in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

The Growing Need for Medical Transcription Outsourcing

Why it is that medical transcription outsourcing has become a big business today? Well it is just because one thing leads to other. In the earlier days medical secretaries just had to type out the reports dictated by the doctor after the rush time. Now it is different. For one so much more documentation is required and that too in such less time that a secretary will have time for nothing else. It has become mandatory for hospitals to keep digital records of all the patient details. Why?

Because every time a medical bill is being made there is the possibility that some insurance company is actually paying the bill. So unless we have perfect documentation of the disease the process of diagnosis medicines etc how can the billing be done? And with so much of growth in the volume of health care clients and hospitals /specialties, either a full time transcription team has to be arranged within the hospital premise or the transcription work has to be outsourced. Work is being sent to offshore locations for purely economic and turnaround time reasons. Thus today we have the fully evolved transcription outsourcing industry.

According the United States department of Labor, the world wide demand for medical transcription is set to reach 20 billion dollars. So if looking out for a career in Medical transcription now is a good time. What are basic requirements to become a good medical transcription professional? It is actually quite simple. One must have,

• A good knowledge of basic to advanced medical terminologies
• Good verbal communication and memory skills
• Ability to be accurate with numbers
• Skill in office equipment/computer
• Good listening skills
• Good verbal and written comprehension
• Ability to maintain records
• Above-average typing skills
• Good grammar/punctuation skill
• Proficiency in certain or multiple medical specialties

For availing of cost effective and highly professional medical transcription outsourcing services, do contact Outsource Strategies International (OSI) a US based company and BPO leader offering services in medical transcription, medical billing and coding.

Texas Medical Transcription Institute Attracts Students With Online Training

As demand for medical transcriptionists keeps rising across the country, the Texas Medical Transcription Institute is rolling out an online education program to train even more medical transcriptionists -- one of the country's fastest-growing home-based careers.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts employment of medical transcriptionists, compared with other occupations, will rise between 18 percent and 26 percent through 2014.

For seven years, what is now known as the Texas Medical Transcription Institute has operated an on-site school for training medical transcriptionists, with 20 students in each 10-month class. Once the online program kicks off in 2008, the institute will be able to accommodate as many as 60 students a year. The institute plans to accept five students a month starting January 1, 2008. Students will finish the online training at their own pace.

While some medical transcriptionists do work in traditional office settings, many of them telecommute from home-based offices as employees or subcontractors for hospitals and transcription services or as self-employed, independent contractors, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The training program at the Texas Medical Transcription Institute costs $2,000, compared with $3,000 to $5,000 for similar programs, Tunnicliffe says. Each student's tuition includes books, practice CDs, software, a foot pedal and a headset, as well as the RMT credentialing exam. Software required for the post-graduate internship will be provided once a student graduates.

Radiology Transcription Company

Welcome to Outsource Strategies International, one of USA's fastest growing quality medical transcription information management organizations serving clients all over the United States. OSI is a pioneer in the field of medical transcription and radiology transcription services. As an internationally recognized medical transcription company, we assure you quality radiology transcription, at fast turnaround time. To attain this, our highly experienced and knowledgeable radiology transcriptionists work 24/7, 365 days a year.



We specialize in -- General Diagnostic, Fluoroscopy, Mammography, Ultrasound, Nuclear, CT, MRI, PET, Angiography, Bone Density, Neurology

Ideally suited for multi-facility health systems and large clinics, OSI meets the transcription needs of single departments, multiple departments, or entire healthcare organizations.

Why Outsource to Us?

• Industry-Leading quality


• Experienced professional staff


• Rapid turnaround


• Secure 256 bit AES encryption and HIPAA compliance


• Data and document security


• Free trial offer


• We support Digital recorders, toll free number and computer dictation

For our radiology transcription services, we make use of the most modern technologies thus making sure that you get maximum returns within your budget. Please contact us with your radiology transcription outsourcing requirements.

Medical Billing Outsourcing to India

Outsourcing Medical Billing to Offshore Centers is a popular option in today's highly competitive healthcare industry. With the advent of globalization, more and more medical billing and medical transcription jobs are being outsourced to India. Outsourcing your medical billing to India can result in high quality and cost benefits. Indian Service Providers are trained in regulations pertinent to Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Products, Managed Care, Third Party Liability, Workers Compensation, Preferred Provider Organizations, and Indemnity Insurers and have a complete understanding of CPT, HCPCS, ICD-9 Coding Level I, II, III. They also have the ability to identify data as relates to submitting a clean insurance claim for reimbursement by insurers.

A 100% quality control program is instituted on the start up of a new client contract. This is to assure the accuracy of the data entry matches the specifications initially outlined. After this a random program is maintained as a mechanism to monitor staff and for ongoing personnel training.

Productivity statistics are compiled and communicated with the client as a tool for measuring the outsourcing arrangement. Indian medical transcription compaies are experienced and the outcome will provide the client with a higher quality product at a reduced cost.

HIPAA Compliant Medical Transcription Service

Medical transcription is a healthcare documentation specialty. Using this method, the medical records of the patients are transferred into electronic form. Whether it is clinical note, surgery report, consultation note, X-ray report, referral letter, laboratory report, discharge summary, or psychiatric evaluation note, qualified medical transcriptionists will take care of it.

With the growing popularity of medical transcription services, many big and small companies have emerged in the field. Organizations dealing with electronic healthcare records should not only protect the electronic data, but the printed and oral versions of the document as well. HIPAA compliance is vital for establishments where business functions are carried out electronically. HIPAA, or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law. It covers three sets of rules which include administrative simplification (transactions and code sets), privacy, and security. These new federal regulations ensure privacy and security of all medical records and information about the patient.

Important requirements of HIPAA for a Medical Transcription Company:

Medical Transcription Service Organizations are expected to ensure the security and confidentiality of patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI). MTSOs were further required to maintain an audit trail of all individuals who accessed patient’s PHI. This necessitated the implementation of new technology and business processes to be ensured as the two key requirements by transcription service providers.

HIPAA compliant medical transcription services are designed to meet the requirements of big and small clinics, health centers, and hospitals. Whatever many be the size or type of the healthcare establishments, all must get full operational compliance from HIPAA, both at state and federal levels.

In the current scenario, medical transcription companies which are HIPAA compliant are in great demand. Some of the advantages of HIPAA compliant medical transcription outsourcing service are

• Avoids fines and criminal penalties


• Customer and industry confidence


• Streamlined process workflow


• Public exposure risk is low


• Increased data efficiency
  
  

Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services to India

You can now turn to India to meet all your medical transcription requirements. Several leading medical transcription service providers with genuine expertise have come up throughout India, to cater to the medical and legal transcription needs of offshore clients. The result of course is achievement of highest possible quality at very reasonable costs.

Skilled transcriptionists in India, who are knowledgeable in all areas of medicine, use latest technology to service the ever-increasing customer base of single doctors, clinics, practices and hospitals of all sizes. Additionally, support teams work with clients to provide quick and best solutions. Medical transcription service providers in India are equipped to act as capacity-rich partners, who can handle huge lines of transcription with speed and accuracy. These outsourcing service providers are ideally suited to customers with large, high volume transcription needs as well as those with lesser volume of transcription needs.

Transcription companies in India serving offshore companies boast of experienced production and quality Assurance professionals. All are HIPAA compliant, quality controlled, confidential, efficient, inexpensive, and secure. Proof reading teams ensure that there are no English or formatting errors. The world of opportunity also lies in the fact that these service providers minimize costs without compromising on quality and timely delivery.

To sum up, a vast pool of English speaking resources, cost-savings, and quicker turn around time, are the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription to India.

As a medical transcription company, we extend our medical transcription outsourcing services to physician’s groups, individual doctors, as well as for units functioning at hospitals and free standing clinics.

Advantages of Medical Transcription Outsourcing

Medical transcription is the process of converting dictated information into a standard text format for inclusion on a patient's permanent medical records issued from a hospital. This is often done far away from the hospital or the location, and in such instances is called offshore transcription or medical transcription outsourcing.

The advantages of medical transcription outsourcing are numerous. The primary advantage is the time gained. In hospitals and clinics, the patients' physical reports, operative reports, consultation notes, laboratory reports, discharge summaries, and many more are outsourced to medical transcription service providers. These files are usually voice files dictated by doctors and other healthcare professionals. Medical transcriptionists transcribe these files and send them back via secure e-mail. Medical transcription outsourcing allows hospitals, clinics and healthcare personnel to focus more on their core activities.

Another advantage of medical transcription outsourcing is the high end security to the files. The files for transcription are sent through a secure web-enabled voice transfer technology. The files will be accurately transcribed into MSWord, HTML, WordPerfect or ASCII format. These transcribed files are returned through password-protected process. Only authorized personnel can gain access to the medical transcription reports.

Medical transcriptionists are highly skilled in advanced medical terminology and have a thorough understanding of the procedures, policies, and documentation rules required for the production of medical records. Majority of the transcriptionists working in medical transcription companies are graduates in biological sciences. This allows them to understand the terminologies and vocabulary used by a doctor. Thus error free reports can be prepared maintaining high accuracy. Many companies offer medical transcription outsourcing at lower cost.

Low cost for outsourcing is another advantage of medical transcription outsourcing. Hospitals and doctors can now get their transcription done at low cost. With expert transcriptionists, works can be completed in fast turn-around-time.