In today’s world change is the one thing, which is constant. Change has never been more relevant than when it comes to healthcare. A healthcare facility has to cope up with the latest developments in healthcare, all the while stretching their budgets to the limit. The latest equipment, the latest techniques, adding on new specialties to the existing practice, all this can put a strain on limited resources.

As the scope of operations of a healthcare facility keep expanding their back office requirements like medical transcription and medical billing needs also expand accordingly. As this happens the first reaction of the healthcare facility is to add on more staff to cope up with increasing transcription needs or alternately outsource the overflow of transcription requirements to independent contractors or to a service provider or a combination of all three.

This move provides a solution albeit temporarily. But as time passes there could be serious discrepancies in terms of the following:

· Quality of reports: The accuracy level or the quality of the finished transcripts depends totally on the quality of people working on it. Use of varied sources to cope with medical transcription needs can dilute the quality control. This could have an impact on the quality of healthcare.

· Turnaround time: Having varied turnaround time would mean that all the data needed to make an informed decision would not be available to the healthcare professional at the right time, which can affect the timeliness of the care imparted.

· Cost per line of transcription: Having transcription done by various sources would mean that the cost per line of transcription would increase.

· Systems/media used for transcription: The technology used for transcribing would be diverse given the different sources, all these would mean additional costs for integration with the healthcare facility systems.

· Serious issues with HIPAA/HITECH compliance: HIPAA/HITECH compliance would be difficult to monitor given the numerous entities involved in the process.

· Delays in processing for the accounts receivable cycle: Medical transcription is the first stage of the accounts receivable cycle; delay in this would mean delays in the rest of the reimbursement process.

· Time spent coordinating various sources of medical transcription increases: Report distribution and signing of finished transcripts would be delayed due to the various sources of work.

· Manpower dealing with providers would increase: The healthcare facility would have to appoint extra people to coordinate the varied sources of transcription to ensure a smooth workflow.

All these factors can have a serious impact on both the quality of healthcare and the bottom-line of the healthcare facility.

What is the most economical and efficient solution to cope with expanding needs of a healthcare facility?

Outsourcing medical transcription needs to an outsourced service provider would provide a one-stop solution for all the transcription needs of a healthcare facility no matter what their expansion plans.

How can the service provider provide a one-stop solution to the transcription needs of a healthcare facility?

The service provider can provide superior solutions by having:

· Right people

· Right process

· Right technology

By having the right people, right processes and right technology in place the outsourced service provider can offer:

· Service at the right price – at least 40% lower than current costs incurred by the healthcare facility.

· Accuracy of above 99%

· Turnaround time of 24 hours with an option of 4-12 hours for STAT reports.

· HIPAA and HITECH compliant transcription

· Fair billing methods to ensure that cost per line of transcription is understood clearly.

· Systems that integrate with that of the healthcare facility without any additional investment on their part.