Should Individual Doctors and Physicians Outsource Medical Transcription?

The answer to the question "should individual doctors and physicians outsource medical transcription?" depends on individual preferences. However, it also cannot be denied that outsourcing has more advantages than disadvantages for a healthcare provider. An in-house team with not much of transcription experience would:

• Not be able to recognize dictation errors that a doctor may have made unknowingly
• Find it initially challenging to transcribe for medical specialties which it has not transcribed for before
• Take more time to transcribe when it has to deal with the preparation of a wide assortment of medical records

Till the recession has fully receded, healthcare providers would want to be as economical as possible. Outsourcing is definitely tempting, considering that it can considerably bring down your overhead expenses.

Medical Transcription OutsourcingSolutions – Pros and Cons

What follows is an outline of the other merits and the few demerits of outsourced transcription services for the healthcare industry.

PROS

Thoroughness, Expertise and Fluency – The medical transcription company's staff would have received exceptional training covering areas such as human physiology and anatomy, medical abbreviations, pharmacology, medical instruments; English grammar, punctuation, spelling and style; and transcription formats. The extensive on-the job experience they have gained over the years would help them transcribe for a wide variety of medical records and specialties.

Reliable Turnaround – Irrespective of the volume of work you entrust with the company, it would consistently be completed by the deadline you set. Completing work in time is often difficult for a doctor or physician because of other work and management related pressures.

98 to 99% Accuracy – Work related pressures at the healthcare practice, or tiredness can lead to errors creeping into the transcription. This would not be the case when you outsource.

Flexibility – The outsourcing solution provider would be flexible in the options it gives the healthcare providers to provide dictations (toll free number or digital dictation machine) and to get their completed records (256 bit encrypted secure browser or FTP).

HIPAA Compliance – The service provider would do everything possible to maintain HIPAA compliance. Measures that the company would adopt include making its staff sign confidentiality agreements, password protection of computers, anti-virus updates, fire extinguisher and smoke alarm, protection by security personnel 24/7 and 256 bit AES encryption.

Anytime Online Accessibility – Healthcare providers can view their transcripts anytime and edit them if they feel it necessary.

CONS

Loss of privacy – You would be entrusting sensitive information with an outside party and there are risks of security breaches and data loss. However, this worry becomes non-existent when you outsource to an HIPAA compliant service provider.

Legal Issues and Hidden Costs – Such problems can arise if the company has not properly delineated its terms and conditions for outsourcing. Again this won't happen if you outsource to an established company.

Dedication Split Between Clients – Transcription outsourcing solution providers have a lot of clients. As such, many of these companies won't be able to give their full efforts and dedication to any one client. This could cause delays at times but not if you outsource right.

You Can Judge for Yourself

With these points regarding the pros and cons of healthcare transcription, you can judge for yourself whether individual doctors and physicians should outsource medical transcription.