medical billing transcription supplier information

MedQuist to become exclusive provider of medical dictation and

transcription services for WebMD's physician subscriber service

WebMD, the leading full-service healthcare Internet site, and MedQuist Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDQ), the largest national provider of electronic medical transcription and healthcare information management solutions, announced today a cross-promotion and integration agreement. MedQuist will be the exclusive provider of medical dictation and transcription services for WebMD's "virtual office" package.

Under the terms of the agreement, MedQuist and WebMD will create a joint marketing plan to introduce and promote the services using an array of marketing and sales tools, including direct mail campaigns and exclusive presence on their respective Web sites. The agreement will enhance WebMD's comprehensive suite of content and healthcare applications for physicians, enabling subscribers to use MedQuist's network of over 3,500 trained medical transcription specialists to quickly and accurately convert free-form medical dictation into electronically formatted patient records.

WebMD intends to initially promote the joint service by offering a free, one-year subscription to WebMD for physicians who agree to use $1,000 in MedQuist services per month.

Jeffrey Arnold, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WebMD, said: "Physicians use dictation and transcription services every day for patient histories, operative reports and other important patient record data. By coupling the number-one dictation and transcription service in the U.S. with WebMD's extensive array of online medical-related communication, information and education services, we're taking one more step toward consolidating the many healthcare service providers into an accessible, seamless Internet-based system for physicians."

"There is an increasing need for fast turnaround of quality medical transcription in the healthcare industry. We look forward to offering physicians a unified MedQuist-WebMD platform as a speedy and secure return path for transcriptions, in addition to the value-added of WebMD's suite of services," David A. Cohen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MedQuist Inc., stated. "As important, the agreement with WebMD will also provide us with valuable access to the significant number of individual physicians in small group practices, and other health care providers that we do not currently serve."

# posted by Medical Information : 4:37 AM