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Hospitals and medical offices using old transcription techniques have to rely on paper-based charts, containing a patient’s history and treatment. Many errors have been known to be caused by this like, writing incorrectly deciphered by office staff, nurses or insurance companies. Leading to costly and dangerous mistakes. 

Medical practices have two primary options when it comes to medical transcription. They can hire an in-house team of transcribers, or they can outsource transcription to a third party. Accurate notes are essential for ensuring a patient receives the best care and treatment they need. 

To Handle these notes in a more professional and easier way and to keep those notes from getting lost, companies outsource their Medical Transcription Services. 

In-house transcription has some benefits, many medical providers find outsourcing medical transcription services is the more effective option. 

Outsourcing and In-House Transcription-Comparison

According to reports as of 2018, of the 58,000 people who worked as medical transcriptionists in the US, 23% of them worked as in-house physicians, 21% worked in hospitals, and one-third were employed by companies that provide administrative and support services, such as transcription companies. 

Working in-house, transcriptionists are responsible for listening to a recording made by a medical provider, interpreting and studying the recording and transcribing it. 

Nowadays, changes in technology have made the use of speech recognition software more common. Now, a medical provider is likely to dictate a note that is automatically transcribed by the software.

A medical transcriptionist will review the typed-up note, comparing it to the original recording. They will make any changes or corrections needed to the transcription to ensure it is accurate.

Working with an in-house transcriptionist has a few benefits. For example, an employee at the practice will become familiar with a doctor’s way of speaking, making it easier to transcribe notes.

They will also be easy to reach if there are questions or concerns about a particular transcription since they are likely to be in the same office. A medical practitioner can also train transcriptionists to meet his/her standards and to always follow privacy rules and laws. 

An in-house transcriptionist performs other tasks in the office as well. Other than transcribing notes and documents, a transcriptionist might be expected to act as a receptionist, greeting patients who arrive for appointments or answering the phones in the office. Some also handle medical billing, order office supplies and perform other administrative tasks. 

However, multitasking throughout the day can prevent a person from performing their transcription duties with focus. Feeling like they need to rush through transcribing, leading to inaccurate notes. Keeping medical transcription in-house can also be more expensive for a healthcare provider.

If the practice or hospital has hired a person full-time, it will need to pay the employee’s salary, whether there are documents to transcribe or not. The practice will also typically provide payroll and pay unemployment insurance taxes for any employees it hires to do transcription.

Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services Benefits

Charting Made Simple

Dictating medical notes has become easier as technology has improved in the past decade.  Smartphone apps and handheld digital recorders have played a huge part in saving time and money on the administrative paperwork. A physician can now simply enter notes into a device and be ready to see the next patient in a matter of seconds.

The oral notes will be typed out and proofread for errors. The physician would get back the notes within 24 hours and can fill them with ease. With medical transcription, there is no need to search for lost files and waste time.

Increase In Accuracy

Your medical transcription services provider will offer you several levels of quality control to make sure that there is no occurrence of incorrect medical terms.

Companies can also avail the services of a trained transcriptionist for a specific medical specialty like neurology, cardiology or dermatology. Such transcriptionists can assist you with your individual requirements. With outsourcing, comes the freedom from employing several in-house resources for quality control.

Save Money

Numerous costs are involved in hiring a person to provide in-house transcription. Including the time and money spent advertising for a position, time spent reviewing resumes and time spent interviewing candidates. The average company needs more than 40 days to fill a vacant or new position.

Once the transcriptionist is added to the team, your company needs to pay them even if there aren’t notes or documents to transcribe. That is one reason why many medical practices that use in-house transcriptionists usually have their transcription team perform other roles. 

In the case of outsourcing medical transcription services, you only have to pay for the material you have transcribed. If your practice doesn’t see patients for a week or so, you don’t have to worry about continuing to pay the salary of a person who doesn’t have any work to do.

No Equipment

Setting up and maintaining in-house transcription typically requires the purchase of equipment and software. If your team will transcribe documents from recorded voice files, they will need a way to easily playback as well as start and stop those files. 

Using speech recognition software in-house also usually requires the purchase of equipment, such as the software itself and a microphone and recorder for doctors to use when making their notes. Along with investing in the equipment, you will need to spend time training your team on how to use it. 

Outsourcing medical transcription services, all the equipment and software are kept off-site. You won’t have to purchase it, store it or worry about continually updating it

Why Med-Miles?

Transcription companies like Med-Miles offer medical transcription services to fit every type of need. With scalable options, medical transcription can be customized for any practice of any size.

We even offer one-time medical transcription services. It’s time your hospital transformed your unstructured notes into tidy medical reports. Find out more about the medical transcription services offered or feel free to call us at (888) 598-9181 or mail us at  info@med-miles.com.