Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. It is a non-profit making but essential part of the healthcare process. It is considered to be one of the cost heads.
The aim of most healthcare facilities is to reduce the cost of patient record creation as much as possible. Outsourcing the entire process helps reduce costs both directly and indirectly.
How does outsourcing reduce direct costs?
Outsourcing reduces direct costs by reducing the following cost heads:
· Reduce the cost of transcription staff on the rolls: One of the main contributors to the cost of patient record creation in-house is the need to maintain the manpower to execute the work. Outsourcing this process can bring down not only the salaries but also bring down other costs like taxes, benefits like insurance, down time when work is slow, overtime payments, the cost of weekend and holiday transcription etc.
· Bring down the cost per line of transcription: Outsourcing ensures that the healthcare facility ends up paying very less per line of transcription due to benefits like economies of scale, lower cost of living at the outsourcing company location, and the benefits of best practices adopted by the service provider.
· Reduce the cost of transcription equipment: For the process of creating medical records to be executed in-house the healthcare facility has to invest in transcription equipment like computers, servers, earphones, foot pedals etc. These expenses are eliminated with the outsourcing option.
How does outsourcing reduce indirect costs?
Outsourcing reduces indirect costs by reducing the following cost heads:
· Reduce the cost of management resources: Managing transcription in-house would involve allocation of management staff for activities like recruitment, training, supervision of records management work. By outsourcing, management expenses towards managing the entire process in-house would be dramatically reduced.
· Reduce the cost of utilities: Utilities like power, water, stationery, consumables etc. add to the cost. Outsourcing would eliminate all these costs.
· Reduce the cost of real estate: Executing medical transcription in-house would mean allocating space for this purpose. This cost of real estate would add to the cost of transcription. Outsourcing would totally eliminate this cost head.
Outsourcing medical transcription needs would make the organization structure leaner by eliminating the need to maintain a huge staff on the rolls, while at the same time bringing down the cost of transcription dramatically. It allows the healthcare facility to take advantage of opportunity costs which would have been lost by allocating essential resources to in-house transcription like investments in capital equipment, space allocation, management resources etc.
Author Resource:
Renee Kelly has written numerous articles on medical transcription service , which has served as an amazing resource for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals seeking the services of a medical transcription company .