medical billing transcription supplier information

Clinic Selects CyMed Inc., To Reduce Costs,

Upgrade Technology, and Keep Jobs in Rockford, Illinois

The Rockford Clinic announced today an agreement to enhance their medical transcription services through a technology and management contract with CyMed, Inc., one of the nation's most technically sophisticated and operationally efficient outsourced medical transcription service companies. As part of the agreement, CyMed, which employs hundreds of medical transcriptionists across the US, will extend employment opportunities to all of the Rockford Clinic employees affected by this contract.

"This agreement brings a variety of benefits to the Clinic, our physicians, and the community," noted Richard Bodager, Executive Director of the Rockford Clinic. "In addition to providing increased audit trail capabilities, required by the recently enacted HIPAA laws (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the CyMed platform provides the leading edge medical records technology our physicians have been asking for - such as the ability to securely access their medical reports online to review and electronically approve their documents through an encrypted Web server. And since CyMed manages its operation over the Internet, they have welcomed our former employees onto their team, resulting in no lost jobs to our community."

CyMed was selected after reviewing the proposals of forty-five different transcription service providers, including all of the top national, regional and local companies. "Our preference was to keep the business local," stated Bodager. "By selecting CyMed, not only are we able to keep our staff working in Rockford, we support a business with Rockford connections." (One of CyMed's Board co-chairmen, Dave Peterson, grew up in Rockford and now lives in nearby Barrington, IL.)

Chronic human exposure to nonovertly toxic doses of arsenic is associated with an increased risk of cancer. Although its carcinogenic mechanism is still unknown, arsenic does not directly cause DNA damage or mutations and is therefore thought to act principally as a co-mutagen, co-carcinogen, and/or tumor promoter. Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that effects of low-dose arsenic (III) (arsenite) on expression of the hormone-regulated phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene were strongly associated with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-mediated regulatory pathway. We therefore examined specifically the effects of arsenite on the biochemical function of GR in hormone-responsive H4IIE rat hepatoma cells. Completely noncytotoxic arsenite treatments (0.3-3.3 [micro]M) significantly decreased dexamethasone-induced expression of transiently transfected luciferase constructs containing either an intact hormone-responsive promoter from the mammalian PEPCK gene or two tandem glucocorticoid response elements (GRE). Western blotting and confocal microscopy of a green fluorescent protein-tagged--GR fusion protein demonstrated that arsenite pretreatment did not block the normal dexamethasone-induced nuclear translocation of GR. These data indicate that nontoxic doses of arsenite can interact directly with GR complexes and selectively inhibit GR-mediated transcription, which is associated with altered nuclear function rather than a decrease in hormone-induced GR activation or nuclear translocation. Key words: arsenic, carcinogenesis, endocrine disruptor, gene regulation, glucocorticoid receptor, metal, transcription factor.

Speech Recognition Engine Independence, Integration Gateways,

Provide Healthcare Professionals with Unprecedented Flexibility,

Efficiency and Savings

Expresiv Technologies, the leading provider of clinical documentation technology solutions, today announced the availability of its next-generation platform, powering the industry's first completely flexible product suite for the creation of accurate medical documentation.

Expresiv's next-generation technology platform is completely Web-based and includes a thin-client interface. This is an important difference because this Web-centric, thin-client approach lowers the total cost of ownership, simplifies system management and speeds deployment by providing centralized control at the server. The platform is the foundation for the Expresiv Enterprise/MD(tm) Product Suite and has been built from the ground up to support the unique requirements of all users -- physicians, nurse practitioners, transcriptionists, QA/editors, transcription managers, administrators and IT -- all from a simple Web browser-based interface.

This release also validates Expresiv's speech recognition engine independent architecture by adding support for Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) 7 from ScanSoft(R). Expresiv's speech recognition engine independence gives users their choice of speech recognition technologies, ensuring they can take advantage of future technology advances as they become available -- protecting their technology investments.

"We're pleased to be first to offer healthcare professionals this unprecedented level of flexibility and efficiency in the production of extraordinarily accurate medical documentation," said Frank Reeves, president and CEO of Expresiv Technologies. "Our Web-based Expresiv Enterprise/MD platform provides secure access for everyone involved in the transcription workflow. Speech recognition engine independence means our customers are not locked in to a single technology and can take advantage of future technology advances, including interoperability with other healthcare technology systems."

Redefining the economics of third party medical billing services, Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. (MTBC) has introduced full-service medical billing for a flat fee of 4% of collections. MTBC is the first company to apply state-of-the-art software and Internet-based technology to medical claims and patient billings, enabling its customers to reap the benefits of improved practice management and increased cash flow at a reduced cost.

Small medical practices now have a compelling solution for outsourcing their in-house billing, which according to the American Medical Association (AMA) costs an average of 10% of the practice's total revenue. Using MTBC's billing services, a typical practice can save tens of thousands of dollars per year in labor, benefits and other employee-related costs, while retaining control over their billing process. Medical practices also receive payments faster as a result of electronic claim submission and filing, and will see a significant reduction in unpaid claims and account aging.

"Billing is at the heart of any medical practice, and prompt collections is the key to its success," said David Rosenblum, President of MTBC. "The medical billing industry is highly fragmented, with local and regional mom-and-pop firms who cannot afford the infrastructure investment necessary to reap the benefits of the latest technology. As a result, these vendors give their customers little or no control over the billing process or reporting. MTBC offers a nationwide service that maximizes the power of the Internet and technology to give medical providers better control over scheduling and billing, 24/7 access to all of their billing information, and comprehensive practice management reports, while reducing costs."

"MTBC's 4% billing service is highly affordable, even for a solo practitioner like me," said Dr. James Brown, M.D., Athens, GA. "Billing was a major source of aggravation in my office, as it cut into the time my staff and I could spend on patient care. Now MTBC handles everything for us and we can devote more of our time to caring for people instead of chasing down payments from insurance companies, government payers and patients."

iBX Transcription Services, Inc., a division of iBX Group, Inc. (OTCBB:IBXG), announced today that it has secured the rights to an advanced medical dictation, transcription and workflow management solution that it helped develop from AIT Corp., of Coral Springs, Fla.

The new arrangement is expected to generate a 20 percent increase in 2004 revenue for the medical records management division, company officials said.

"By finally acquiring this technology for our own use, we'll be able to significantly increase productivity," said Ira Fruchtman, Managing Director of iBX Transcription Services. "Until now, a per-user fee had made it cost-prohibitive to take on some smaller medical practices. This allows expansion of our customer base to include single-physician and other healthcare businesses, in addition to our larger clients.

"Having better control of the system in-house will allow the company to better serve existing clients," Fruchtman continued. "We plan to make several changes to the software that will allow us to better meet the specific needs of our customers. And our tech staff will have immediate access to the system to perform maintenance checks and provide for any future modifications."

The technology solution is fully compliant with and meets the requirements of all current state and federal healthcare legislation, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and new Medicare regulations, Fruchtman said.

Abbreviations: AM = alveolar macrophage; AP-1 = activator protein-1; IFN = interferon; IL = interleukin; iNOS = inducible nitric oxide synthase; MCP = monocyte chemotactic protein; NF-[Kappa]B = nuclear factor-[Kappa]B; PMA = phorbol myristate acetate; RPA = ribonuclease protection assay; (CHEST 2001; 120:24S-25S)

Exposure to silica or asbestos elicits a striking inflammatory response that is characterized by the influx of inflammatory cells, increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, cell injury, and compensatory cell proliferation.[1] The regulation of these events may be dependent on the activation of transcription factors such as nuclear factor-[Kappa]B (NF-[Kappa]B) and/or activator protein-1 (AP-1) since the promoter regions of many genes involved in inflammation, proliferation, and/or apoptosis are known to contain binding sites for these transcription factors.[2,3] Previous work from this laboratory has demonstrated increased AP-1 binding to DNA and AP-1-dependent gene transcription in mesothelial cells and tracheal epithelial cells after exposure to asbestos in vitro.[4,5] We and others[6,7] also have shown that asbestos causes NF-[Kappa]B activation in these cell types in vitro and in an inhalation model of asbestosis. However, whether silica causes transcriptional activation of NF-[Kappa]B and AP-1-dependent gene expression in the lung after exposures in vivo is unclear.

Acusis(R) LLC, a leading provider of outsourced medical transcription services, based in Pittsburgh, and Noteworthy Medical Systems, Inc., developer of the award winning Electronic Medical Record, based in Cleveland, recently announced a mutually beneficial industry channel partnership. This decision to align the two companies' initiatives in strategic areas will further ensure that customer needs are more comprehensively met in terms of process efficiency, responsive customer service and overall cost-effectiveness.

Acusis, with a strong focus on technology and exceeding customer expectation, has developed a cost-effective outsourced medical transcription solution that integrates seamlessly with any client's current medical records system. AcuSuite(R), Acusis' proprietary software solution, provides a secure method for the management of the entire medical transcription process from dictation capture to the delivery of final electronic reports. Careful attention to Quality Control and Quality Assurance issues allows the Company to support a 98% accuracy in a 24 hour or less turnaround period.

The technologically advanced Noteworthy EMR system, developed by physicians and backed by a customer-focused management team, provides a complementary process to Acusis in that they provide comprehensive electronic method of documenting patient encounters quickly and intuitively, producing discrete data that can be manipulated and analyzed. Noteworthy interfaces with each data-dependent component in a medical practice, including laboratory and X-ray ordering, prescribing and formulary, referrals, consults, research, scheduling, billing and accounts receivables.

The Acusis / Noteworthy alliance is a smart and convenient fusion of closely related medical process solutions. Attention to detail, quality and technology have made both companies premier players in their respective markets and the benefits to customers can only increase.

Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. ("MTBC"), a leading medical services company that introduced full-service medical billing for a flat fee of 4% of collections, announced today that it has achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification, signifying that its processes and quality management systems meet rigorous industry requirements. The ISO 9001:2000 standard is an internationally recognized quality management system developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

MTBC is the first company to apply state-of-the-art software and Internet-based technology to medical claims and patient billings, enabling its customers to reap the benefits of improved practice management and increased cash flow at a reduced cost.

MTBC's ISO 9001:2000 certification was issued only after an extensive external audit of its processes and quality management systems by Moody's International, an international ratings agency.

"The ISO 9001:2000 certification is an authoritative confirmation of our continued commitment to quality business practices," said David Rosenblum, President of MTBC. "Physicians seeking medical billing alternatives to the local 'mom & pop' billing companies will feel comfortable knowing that our ISO 9001:2000 certified medical billing process will provide their practice with both stability and security in the volatile medical billing environment."

MTBC's comprehensive medical billing service includes scheduling, electronic claim submission, follow-up and appeals, as well as patient billings. All patient billing questions are handled by MTBC's specially trained service representatives. In addition to 24/7 Internet access to information on scheduling, patients and billing, MTBC provides customized superbills and other office forms, practice analysis and financial reporting to its 4% medical billing clients. Proprietary software tracks each claim through the entire billing process - from the moment a patient is scheduled, until payment is received - reducing the cost of overlooked claims.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers/High-Tech Writers

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 20, 2004

Synergy Software Development Inc. (Pink Sheets:SGYS), is proud to issue a letter of intent for the acquisition of Medical Transcription Services Inc., a leading provider of medical transcription services in the southeastern United States.

"The acquisition of Medical Transcription Services will augment `Evolution,' our current healthcare offering, with the quality of their product and by incorporating their existing client base of hospitals and healthcare providers with our own," commented Dr. Todd Hanson, CEO of Synergy Software.

"I believe this merger is in alignment with Medical Transcription Services' goals and business mission. Our product will be able to enhance Synergy's `Evolution' and will improve the quality of medical care to our ongoing and future healthcare customers," says Philip Scanlon, CEO of Medical Transcription Services.

Medical Transcription Services is designed to save medical professionals time, improve the quality of patient care, and reduce the risk of medical professional liability claims.

Synergy Software Development Inc. (SGYS), located in Boca Raton, FL, is defined as a secure applications software development business specializing in the healthcare industry. Synergy's advanced clinical information technology was developed specifically for use by hospitals, physician groups, private practitioners and other healthcare providers.

Synergy Software Development Inc. has revolutionized the way in which patient information is made available in the healthcare industry. With Synergy's "Evolution" product, healthcare providers are able to maintain a continuous level of high-quality care and information, with the additional benefit of reducing unnecessary expenditures. All of the Synergy applications adhere to HIPPA guidelines.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers/High-Tech Writers

TAMPA, Fla. & ANNAPOLIS, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2004

iLIANT Corporation ("iLIANT"), a leading provider of software, business outsourcing, and consulting services for physician practices, and CBay Systems, Ltd. ("CBay"), a leading provider of healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) services, announce a strategic alliance to provide medical transcription services.

Effective immediately, CBay will manage and assume operational responsibility of iLIANT's North Carolina based transcription clients. A separate Services Agreement will allow iLIANT to extend CBay transcription technology and services to its physician clients on an ongoing basis. CBay provides transcription and information management services to physician groups, hospitals, integrated health care facility networks, and medical clinics.

iLIANT's transcription clients will benefit from the innovative technology and medical transcription process tools offered by CBay. CBay's HIPAA-compliant solutions leverage leading Internet technologies and highly credentialed transcriptionists to provide easier, more secure, accurate and cost-effective medical transcription. The iLIANT relationship will benefit CBay by immediately increasing its customer base as well as opening a new sales channel through which the company can offer its medical transcription services.

iLIANT provides comprehensive business support services aimed at leveraging technology in ways that simplify the physicians' practice. The alliance with CBay allows iLIANT to remain focused on its core competencies of providing industry leading IT and business services. "We have experienced tremendous success in building strong alliances with leading vendors, like CBay, as a means to provide quality solutions to meet our clients' needs now and into the future," said Jay Langford, Director of Business Development for iLIANT. "The strategic alliance with CBay allows our clients to benefit from cutting-edge technology while continuing to receive the outstanding quality and service that they are accustomed to receiving."

First responders (e.g., firefighters, emergency medical technicians [EMTs], and paramedics) are at risk for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Recently, CDC has received inquiries from state and local health departments and occupational health services about the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among first responders and the need for routine HCV testing among these workers. This report summarizes the findings of five studies of HCV infection among first responders. Although some of these workers may need HCV testing under certain circumstances, this report indicates that first responders are not at greater risk than the general population for HCV infection; therefore, routine HCV testing is not warranted. First responders should continue to follow standard precautions to reduce workplace exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

During November--December 1999, Home Access Health Corporation (Hoffman Estates, lllinois) [*] offered specimen collection kits (Hepatitis C [Check.sup.TM]) to 4400 active and retired members of the Philadelphia firefighters union. Respondents telephoned a toll-free number to receive their test results and to answer questions anonymously about nonoccupational risk factors for HCV infection. According to Home Access (R), serum was tested for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) with an enzyme immunoassay (EIA 3.0; Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Raritan, New Jersey); repeatedly reactive samples were tested with a supplemental recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBATM 3.0, Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, California). In February 2000, Home Access reported that of 2146 respondents, 97 (4.5%) screened positive for anti-HCV

Synergy Software Development Inc. (Pink Sheets:SGYS) is proud to enter into a stock exchange agreement with Medical Transcription Services.

"The incorporation of Synergy's exclusive healthcare product lines will enhance the existing revenue of Medical Transcription Services. This merger will enable Synergy Software Development to implement Synergy's healthcare products in existing clients of Medical Transcription Services," states Philip Scanlon CEO of Medical Transcription Services.

"Our goal is to provide doctors with all the tools they need to make their practices more profitable, by Synergy acquiring these tools, doctors will work less, spend more time with their patients and make more money," states Dr. Todd Hanson CEO of Synergy Software Development.

Synergy Software Development Inc. will continue to offer stock exchange agreements to existing companies to grow and meet the demands of the healthcare community. By combining Synergy's advanced technologies with the acquisitions of other profitable technology companies, we are positioning ourselves to be industry leaders.

Synergy Software Development Inc. (SGYS), located in Boca Raton, FL, is defined as a secure applications software development business specializing in the healthcare and other niche technologies. Synergy's advanced clinical information technology was developed specifically for use by hospitals, physician groups, private practitioners and other healthcare providers.

Synergy Software Development Inc. has revolutionized the way in which patient information is made available in the healthcare industry. With Synergy's "Evolution" product, healthcare providers are able to maintain a continuous level of high-quality care and information, with the additional benefit of reducing unnecessary expenditures. All of the Synergy applications adhere to HIPPA guidelines.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- HIPAA-Compliant Hardware-Software Solution Improves Medical Record Accuracy, Increases Physician Efficiency and Enhanced Knowledge Management

Xybernaut(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:XYBR) and ZyDoc Corporation today announced a partnership relationship under which Xybernaut mobile/wearable computing technologies and the ZyDoc medical documentation applications have been combined into a single solution for a variety of institutional and private-practice medical purposes.

Under the partnership relationship, ZyDoc has joined Team Xybernaut(TM) as a systems integrator/solution provider working with Xybernaut in the healthcare and medical sectors. Both companies have been working together for more than six months to develop and deploy the integrated medical record platform.

The mobile/wearable solutions are initially being offered on the Xybernaut Atigo(R) wearable computers. The complete turnkey systems consist of the Xybernaut Atigo computer running ZyDoc speech recognition and multimodal software with handwriting recognition software, ZyDoc transcription tools (ZipDoc(TM)), wireless networking capabilities for transferring captured data, and web-based resources for viewing and managing patient information (TrackDoc(TM)).

"The mobility and point-of-task computing power afforded by the joint Xybernaut-ZyDoc solution allows physicians increased flexibility in data capture and greater accessibility to knowledge at critical moments," said James M. Maisel, M.D., chairman and founder of ZyDoc. "Speech recognition solves the critical time factor for physicians, however, the need to communicate with other physicians as rapidly and seamlessly as possible is even more paramount. We believe an automated Internet-based medical records solution serves both of these needs equally well."

Initial customers of the joint solution could include physicians looking for increased accuracy, speed and quality of data capture when the mobile computing devices are deployed to support their day-to-day operations. This type of deployment is a good example of the potential for the joint system.

SOMERSET, N.J. -- Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. announces a new plan to offer medical transcription services at only 4 cents per line to all physicians who use MTBC's 4% Medical Billing services.

MTBC's new 4-for-4 plan is designed for physicians who are interested in a comprehensive billing solution as well as a secure and reliable transcription service. MTBC's 4 cents transcription services will include all of the features currently offered at the 8 cents per line fee, but at half the cost. The 4-for-4 plan includes a toll-free number and a secure Personal Identification Number (PIN) for the physician to dictate the work. The transcription work is completed and emailed back to the physician within 24 hours.

"MTBC's 4-for-4 plan offers physicians a complete practice management solution," explains MTBC's President, David Rosenblum. "The 4-for-4 plan includes comprehensive billing and patient management features which will help the physician spend more time with patients and less time with paperwork."

MTBC's 4% medical billing services are comprehensive, including patient scheduling, immediate on-line eligibility verification, electronic claim submissions, follow-up and appeals, electronic remittance advice (ERA) and electronic funds transfer (EFT), as well as patient billing. In addition to 24/7 Internet access to information on scheduling, patients and billing, MTBC also provides customized superbills and other office forms, practice analysis and financial reporting to its medical billing clients. Proprietary software tracks each claim through the entire billing process.

PEABODY, Mass. -- Leading PC Dictation Solution Enables Radiology Department to Save $300,000 a Year and Reduce Document Turnaround Time by 80%

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced that Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has selected ScanSoft Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R), the leading speech recognition solution for medical professionals, to automate transcription within its Department of Radiology. Leveraging expertise from ScanSoft value-added reseller LANtek, Hershey Medical Center was able to reduce medical report turnaround times by 80%, improve overall patient care and virtually eliminate the costs of manual transcription.

Using ScanSoft Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the medical center's radiology department can now create reports in real-time simply by dictating into their PCs. Prior to deploying Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the institution employed the services of eight full- and part-time transcriptionists, who took approximately 72 hours to turn around completed medical reports. After several unsuccessful attempts at installing other voice recognition systems on their own, the hospital turned to LANtek to design a deployment of Dragon NaturallySpeaking that would work in conjunction with an existing document workflow solution. Within the first four months, the deployment had paid for itself and had reduced report turnaround time to less than 14 hours - an improvement of more than 80%. In addition, the installation resulted in significant cost savings of nearly $300,000 annually, and the hospital was able to reposition the transcriptionists to more value-added positions within the organization.

"Speech recognition software is truly the future of healthcare technology applications - the benefits of the software are clearly tangible, and the cost and time savings are tremendous," said Timothy Yanchuck, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "Within a week of our 'go live' date, it became clear that our use of Dragon NaturallySpeaking would be successful, as the departmental faculty saw the resultant benefit to patient care. We are quite pleased with the level of accuracy and ease of use of ScanSoft's product as well as the training and other services provided by LANtek."

PEABODY, Mass. -- Server-Based Toolkit Lowers Transcription Costs and Increases Productivity by Incorporating Speech Recognition into Existing Clinical Documentation Systems

ScanSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SSFT), the global leader of speech and imaging solutions, today announced the immediate availability of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) 7 Software Development Kit (SDK) Server Edition, the latest release of the world's leading dictation SDK. This new release supports server-based speech recognition of recorded dictation and is designed to increase productivity and lower costs in healthcare and other transcription intensive industries. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Server Edition complements the Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Client Edition, which is the leading speech recognition SDK for integration into client workstation applications.

North American medical transcription costs have reached more than $10 billion annually, with nearly every healthcare facility employing or outsourcing significant resources to handle this manual process. Through the use of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Server Edition, medical transcriptionists will be able to receive an automatically generated draft report, which then only requires editing - a process that can increase transcriptionist productivity rates by 50% or more. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Server Edition is designed to be integrated into clinical documentation systems by transcription service organizations, healthcare ISVs, and systems integrators.

"As costs spiral upward, healthcare organizations are now more than ever concerned with streamlining their operations. Using speech recognition to improve the manual transcription process is an alternative that is gaining tremendous momentum in the healthcare market because it can offer both significant cost and time savings," said Frank Reeves, CEO of Expresiv Technologies, a provider of clinical documentation automation software. "We are pleased to offer the functionality provided by the Dragon NaturallySpeaking SDK Server Edition as part of our comprehensive solution. We believe it offers both the highest accuracy and the right set of features to enable a powerful integration of speech recognition into the process of creating and managing clinical documentation. Ultimately, that saves our customers time and money while allowing them to focus more on patient care."