MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION CENTER IN TRIVANDRUM

 MEDICAL TRANSCRPTION AS A PROFESSION

 An individual who performs medical transcription is known as a medical transcriber (MT) or a Medical Language Specialist (MLS). The equipment used is called a medical transcriber, e.g., a cassette player with foot controls operated by the MT for report playback and transcription.

Education and training can be obtained through certificate or diploma programs, distance learning, or on-the-job training offered in some hospitals, although there are countries currently employing transcriptionists that require 18 months to 2 years of specialized MT training. Working in medical transcription leads to a mastery in medical terminology and editing, ability to listen and type simultaneously, utilization of playback controls on the transcriber (machine), and use of foot pedal to play and adjust dictations – all while maintaining a steady rhythm of execution. Medical transcription training normally includes coursework in medical terminology, anatomy, editing and proofreading, grammar and punctuation, typing, medical record types and formats, and healthcare documentation.

While medical transcription does not mandate registration or certification, individual MTs may seek out registration/certification for personal or professional reasons. Obtaining a certificate from a medical transcription training program does not entitle an MT to use the title of Certified Medical Transcriptionist. A Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS) credential can be earned by passing a certification examination conducted solely by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), formerly the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT), as the credentialing designation they created. AHDI also offers the credential of Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS). According to AHDI, RHDS is an entry-level credential while the CHDS is an advanced level. AHDI maintains a list of approved medical transcription schools. Generally, certified medical transcriptionists earn more than their non-certified counterparts. It is also notable that training through an educational program that is approved by AHDI will increase the chances of an MT getting certified and getting hired.

There is a great degree of internal debate about which training program best prepares an MT for industry work. Yet, whether one has learned medical transcription from an online course, community college, high school night course, or on-the-job training in a doctor's office or hospital, a knowledgeable MT is highly valued. In lieu of these AHDI certification credentials, MTs who can consistently and accurately transcribe multiple document work-types and return reports within a reasonable turnaround-time (TAT) are sought after. TATs set by the service provider or agreed to by the transcriptionist should be reasonable but consistent with the need to return the document to the patient's record in a timely manner.

On March 7, 2006, the MT occupation became an eligible U.S. Department of Labor Apprenticeship, a 2-year program focusing on acute care facility (hospital) work. In May 2004, a pilot program for Vermont residents was initiated, with 737 applicants for only 20 classroom pilot-program openings. The objective was to train the applicants as MTs in a shorter time period. (See Vermont HITECH for pilot program established by the Federal Government Health and Human Services Commission).

THE MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION PROCESS

  When the patient visits a doctor, the latter spends time with the former discussing their medical problems and performing diagnostic services. After the patient leaves the office, the doctor uses a voice-recording device to record information about the patient encounter. This information may be recorded into a hand-held cassette recorder or into a regular telephone, dialed into a central server located in the hospital or transcription service office, which will 'hold' the report for the transcriptionist. This report is then accessed by a medical transcriptionist, who then listens to the dictation and transcribes it into the required format for the medical record, and of which this medical record is considered a legal document. The next time the patient visits the doctor, the doctor will call for the medical record or the patient's entire chart, which will contain all reports from previous encounters. The doctor can on occasion refill the patient's medications after seeing only the medical record, although doctors prefer to not refill prescriptions without seeing the patient to establish if anything has changed.

It is very important to have a properly formatted, edited, and reviewed medical transcription document. If a medical transcriptionist accidentally typed a wrong medication or the wrong diagnosis, the patient could be at risk if the doctor (or their designee) did not review the document for accuracy. Both the doctor and the medical transcriptionist play an important role to make sure the transcribed dictation is correct and accurate. The doctor should speak slowly and concisely, especially when dictating medications or details of diseases and conditions. The medical transcriptionist must possess hearing acuity, medical knowledge, and good reading comprehension in addition to checking references when in doubt.

However, some doctors do not review their transcribed reports for accuracy, and the computer attaches an electronic signature with the disclaimer that a report is "dictated but not read". This electronic signature is readily acceptable in a legal sense. The transcriptionist is bound to transcribe verbatim (exactly what is said) and make no changes, but has the option to flag any report inconsistencies. On some occasions, the doctors do not speak clearly, or voice files are garbled. Some doctors are time-challenged and need to dictate their reports quickly (as in ER Reports). In addition, there are many regional or national accents and (mis)pronunciations of words the MT must contend with. It is imperative and a large part of the job of the transcriptionist to look up the correct spelling of complex medical terms, medications, obvious dosage or dictation errors, and when in doubt should "flag" a report. A "flag" on a report requires the dictator (or their designee) to fill in a blank on a finished report, which has been returned to him, before it is considered complete. Transcriptionists are never permitted to guess, or 'just put in anything' in a report transcription. Furthermore, medicine is constantly changing. New equipment, new medical devices, and new medications come on the market on a daily basis, and the Medical Transcriptionist needs to be creative and to tenaciously research (quickly) to find these new words. An MT needs to have access to, or keep on memory, an up-to-date library to quickly facilitate the insertion of a correctly spelled device.

OUTSOURCING OF MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION

  Due to the increasing demand to document medical records, countries have started to outsource the services of medical transcription. The main reason for outsourcing is stated to be the cost advantage due to cheap labor in developing countries, and their currency rates as compared to the US dollar.

There is a volatile controversy on whether medical transcription work should be outsourced, mainly due to three reasons:

1. The greater majority of MTs presently work from home offices rather than in hospitals, working off-site for "national" transcription services. It is predominantly those nationals located in the United States who are striving to outsource work to other-than-US-based transcriptionists. In outsourcing work to sometimes lesser-qualified and lower-paid non-US MTs, the nationals can force US transcriptionists to accept lower rates, at the risk of losing business altogether to the cheaper outsourcing providers. In addition to the low line rates forced on US transcriptionists, US MTs are often paid as ICs (independent contractors); thus, the nationals save on employee insurance and benefits offered, etc. Unfortunately for the state of healthcare-related administrative costs in the United States, in outsourcing, the nationals still charge the hospitals the same rate as they did in the past for highly qualified US transcriptionists but subcontract the work to non-US MTs, keeping the difference as profit.
2. There are concerns about patient privacy, with confidential reports going from the country where the patient is located (e.g. the US) to a country where the laws about privacy and patient confidentiality may not even exist. The offshore provider has a clear business interest in preventing a data breach and could be prosecuted under HIPAA or other privacy laws, yet the counter-argument is made that such a prosecution might never happen or if tried wouldn't get anywhere. Some of the countries that now outsource transcription work are the United States and Britain, with work outsourced to Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Canada, Australia, Pakistan and Barbados.
3. The quality of the finished transcriptions is a concern. Many outsourced transcriptionists simply do not have the requisite basic education to do the job with reasonable accuracy, as well as additional, occupation-specific training in medical transcription. Many foreign MTs who can speak English are not familiar with American expressions and/or the slang doctors often use, and can be unfamiliar with American names and places. An MT editor is then responsible for all work transcribed from these countries and under these conditions. These outsourced transcriptionists often work for a fraction of what transcriptionists are paid in the United States, even with the US MTs daily accepting increasingly lower rates. However, some firms choose to employ American transcriptionists as they believe the quality of work is better.