Patient records are a vital element in the healthcare process. They are essential for not only patient care but play an important role in the commercial, statutory and medico legal aspects. Medical transcription is the process by which patient records are created. Medical transcriptionists are the scribes who faithfully transform the narration of the doctors into text format, making it available to healthcare professionals and other staff.
Outsourcing this process has been found to be not only economical, but also efficient and effective in terms of accuracy, turnaround time, security and technology. In recent past there have been many arguments over the role of the medical transcription services in the process of patient record creation. It is important to enumerate the reasons why it is so important to the care process. Given below are the reasons that highlight the importance of the role played by this process:
· Quantity: These services are essential to the process of record creation because of the sheer volume of records to be created. The number of people seeking healthcare services has dramatically increased due to various reasons like the aging population, lifestyle changes, increased stress levels etc. It is impossible for health professionals or support staff to cope with the huge volumes transcription requirements, while still continuing to provide quality care.
· Preference: This method of documentation has been proven to be the preferred method for creation of patient records, as doctors are starved for time and like the convenience of being able to dictate notes in the time available to them. Moreover the options offered to retain their familiar modes of dictation are also offered making it even more convenient along with added benefits like different document delivery modes as per their preference
· Detailed: Documenting the patient encounter by this process allows doctors to capture maximum information in a patient record. This comes in handy in many circumstances, by allowing the healthcare professional to ponder over the health conditions of the patient and arrive at the correct diagnosis, helps in continued care after a time lag and many other situations where maximum information can aid the treatment process.
· Increasing productivity: This process also allows the healthcare professionals to maximize their productive hours by concentrating on what they specialize in- providing quality healthcare
· Understanding the process: Transcription vendors understand the process of healthcare and can tailor their services to suit the needs of doctor and hospital. They are familiar with the requirements of each specialty and are can serve the needs of healthcare facilities and doctors in the best possible way
· Aids risk management: Detailed patient records play an important role in case of litigation. These provide detailed evidence about the process and quality of care provided to the patient
· Applying context: The transcription vendors have teams of trained and experienced transcriptionists who can apply context to garbled/confusing audio to create accurate records
· Maintaining standards: Availing specialized services also helps maintain the standards of patient records. This only aid in maintaining standards of accuracy, turnaround time and security, they would also ensure reports are created in the formats/ templates required
· Helping provide hands on care: These services help the healthcare professionals make the most of their limited time resources and help them focus on what they do best – providing hands on quality healthcare to patients.
Apart from aiding facilities/doctors in the process of providing quality healthcare, medical transcription service providers also aid them in the commercial aspects in two ways:
· By reducing cost of transcription dramatically
· By quickening the receivables cycle
Considering the vital role played by medical transcription services, it is important to choose the right service provider.
Author Resource:
Renee Kelly has written numerous articles on online medical transcription , which has served as an amazing resource for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals seeking the services of a professional transcription company .