Saturday, February 02, 2008
Outsourcing And Transaction Costs - The West's Achilles Heel?
Today the value chain in a typical business has become riddled with transactions due to outsourcing.
Product is transferred from raw material provider through the outsourced value chain to the end customer.
Each of those transfers generate transactions such as ordering, shipping, billing, receiving, customs clearing, settling and so forth.
A simple transaction such as billing triggers a number of multiple transactions. On the shipper's side, generating an invoice, booking the sale, delivering the invoice, receiving the payment, booking the payment and so forth, and on the receivers side, receiving the invoice, registering the invoice, receiving the goods, booking the receipt goods, generating a payment and so on.
I can mention many more transactions but you get the idea.
So with the advent of outsourcing, as the number of functions outsourced increases, so do the number of transactions multiply because each of the outsourcers will perform al these necessary reciprocal functions which generate transactions and the costs associated with them.
A traditional value chain used to consist of, for example, a supplier of raw materials, a manufacturer, a wholesaler and a retailer each generating a number of transactions as the product gets transferred from one to the other. Today each of the players in this value chain will have a number of its own internal processes outsourced, thus generating more transactions as they do so.
As more is outsourced, more transactions are generated.
Current studies indicate that up to 70% of the cost of a product in a long value-chain are transaction costs (see the purple shaded area in the chart above). This is an enormous slice of the pie that some competitor inevitably will be able to take a bite out of if he/she solves the issue of transaction costs and either reduces the costs considerably or takes many of them out altogether.
The dominant factor in global trade is Transaction cost not Labor Cost.
A reduction in the transaction costs is where the greatest damage can be done to the West's economies and where it is most vulnerable, a veritable Achilles' heel.
So how do you reduce the transaction costs in this equation?
Ensure that your transaction costs are the lowest in the current environment through increased investment in Information Technology thus maintaining a sufficiently steep barrier to entry for any competitor.
Reduce your existing transaction costs by outsourcing transaction processing to a Subject Matter Expert (SME), whose critical mass and expertise ensures a reduction in these costs.
Shorten the value chain by vertical integration and thus eliminate most of the external transactions generated by outsourcing.
One part of the solution is to have superior and efficient Information Technology that reduces the costs of these transactions thereby keeping them lower than your competition, making it difficult for them to compete.
A perfect example of a company that understands the basics of information warfare is Wal-Mart and the way it uses information technology as a weapon. Its competitors are unable to match its transaction costs. Wal-Mart has other cost advantages such as, huge volume/critical mass, its own distribution system and so on.
Due to its enormous investment in IT and the lead it has in information management the threat to the West is relatively low in the short run, however they must maintain their technological edge in information management in order to avoid becoming vulnerable in this race. Many emerging economies are rapidly ramping up to come to do battle with the Western economies in this area.
Smaller companies with high transaction costs and not enough capital to invest or insufficient critical mass should be scrambling to outsource their Information Technology and Business Processes to an SME. With their superior system integration skills and critical mass these SME's will reduce their customers' transaction costs.
Another option is to eliminate the number of transactions involved in the value chain through vertical integration and by eliminating a number of links in the chain. An attack like this is much harder to defend against as it takes considerably less investment than maintaining a superior Information Technology infrastructure. This is the real threat to the dominance of the West.
The internet has always been a threat to some players in the value chain and will continue to be a real leveler of the playing field as technology improves its performance and more and more people start gaining confidence in performing transactions over the web.
The internet has taken out many middlemen that used to be in the value chain and has started with the retailer. Look at what happened to the travel agencies, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Expedia have all taken an enormous chunk of business away from the traditional Travel Agent. That is just on the retail end. Phase two is already underway. There is a threat to that model with the arrival of YTB and various other turnkey secure hosted travel portals where the end consumer is the travel agent.
When have you last ordered Anti Virus software in a shop, or Adobe Acrobat software, or Microsoft software and upgrades or for that matter car insurance from Geico? What I am trying to say is that selling on the internet through internet storefronts is already a reality.
Now, once these contract manufacturers from China and India and other emerging countries move up in the value chain and are able to bring the products, they currently manufacture so cheaply on an outsourced basis, directly to the consumers through vertical integration by acquiring distributors or a mail order houses in the West, God help us.
So what does this mean?
Information Technology should be used as a weapon in Information warfare. We must become system integrators encompassing the entire value chain. IT budgets should increase not decrease and should be based on its effect on the entire value chain. CIO's must view themselves and become enterprise economists not just corporate CIO's.
Optimize other phases and disciplines in the value chain, as competitive advantage is provided by many factors, business processes, volume or critical mass, distribution techniques, utilizing the Internet, as demonstrated in the Wal-Mart example.
The winner of Information Warfare will be the entity that understands that Information Technology is the weapon of choice and is capable of integrating the information that encompasses their entire value chain.
Transaction Costs must be reduced to the point where they are equal or less than those of a vertically integrated value chain, or else the ability for emerging countries to beat the West to the consumer through vertical integration with lower transaction costs and lower prices will become a reality in the long run.
Product is transferred from raw material provider through the outsourced value chain to the end customer.
Each of those transfers generate transactions such as ordering, shipping, billing, receiving, customs clearing, settling and so forth.
A simple transaction such as billing triggers a number of multiple transactions. On the shipper's side, generating an invoice, booking the sale, delivering the invoice, receiving the payment, booking the payment and so forth, and on the receivers side, receiving the invoice, registering the invoice, receiving the goods, booking the receipt goods, generating a payment and so on.
I can mention many more transactions but you get the idea.
So with the advent of outsourcing, as the number of functions outsourced increases, so do the number of transactions multiply because each of the outsourcers will perform al these necessary reciprocal functions which generate transactions and the costs associated with them.
A traditional value chain used to consist of, for example, a supplier of raw materials, a manufacturer, a wholesaler and a retailer each generating a number of transactions as the product gets transferred from one to the other. Today each of the players in this value chain will have a number of its own internal processes outsourced, thus generating more transactions as they do so.
As more is outsourced, more transactions are generated.
Current studies indicate that up to 70% of the cost of a product in a long value-chain are transaction costs (see the purple shaded area in the chart above). This is an enormous slice of the pie that some competitor inevitably will be able to take a bite out of if he/she solves the issue of transaction costs and either reduces the costs considerably or takes many of them out altogether.
The dominant factor in global trade is Transaction cost not Labor Cost.
A reduction in the transaction costs is where the greatest damage can be done to the West's economies and where it is most vulnerable, a veritable Achilles' heel.
So how do you reduce the transaction costs in this equation?
Ensure that your transaction costs are the lowest in the current environment through increased investment in Information Technology thus maintaining a sufficiently steep barrier to entry for any competitor.
Reduce your existing transaction costs by outsourcing transaction processing to a Subject Matter Expert (SME), whose critical mass and expertise ensures a reduction in these costs.
Shorten the value chain by vertical integration and thus eliminate most of the external transactions generated by outsourcing.
One part of the solution is to have superior and efficient Information Technology that reduces the costs of these transactions thereby keeping them lower than your competition, making it difficult for them to compete.
A perfect example of a company that understands the basics of information warfare is Wal-Mart and the way it uses information technology as a weapon. Its competitors are unable to match its transaction costs. Wal-Mart has other cost advantages such as, huge volume/critical mass, its own distribution system and so on.
Due to its enormous investment in IT and the lead it has in information management the threat to the West is relatively low in the short run, however they must maintain their technological edge in information management in order to avoid becoming vulnerable in this race. Many emerging economies are rapidly ramping up to come to do battle with the Western economies in this area.
Smaller companies with high transaction costs and not enough capital to invest or insufficient critical mass should be scrambling to outsource their Information Technology and Business Processes to an SME. With their superior system integration skills and critical mass these SME's will reduce their customers' transaction costs.
Another option is to eliminate the number of transactions involved in the value chain through vertical integration and by eliminating a number of links in the chain. An attack like this is much harder to defend against as it takes considerably less investment than maintaining a superior Information Technology infrastructure. This is the real threat to the dominance of the West.
The internet has always been a threat to some players in the value chain and will continue to be a real leveler of the playing field as technology improves its performance and more and more people start gaining confidence in performing transactions over the web.
The internet has taken out many middlemen that used to be in the value chain and has started with the retailer. Look at what happened to the travel agencies, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Expedia have all taken an enormous chunk of business away from the traditional Travel Agent. That is just on the retail end. Phase two is already underway. There is a threat to that model with the arrival of YTB and various other turnkey secure hosted travel portals where the end consumer is the travel agent.
When have you last ordered Anti Virus software in a shop, or Adobe Acrobat software, or Microsoft software and upgrades or for that matter car insurance from Geico? What I am trying to say is that selling on the internet through internet storefronts is already a reality.
Now, once these contract manufacturers from China and India and other emerging countries move up in the value chain and are able to bring the products, they currently manufacture so cheaply on an outsourced basis, directly to the consumers through vertical integration by acquiring distributors or a mail order houses in the West, God help us.
So what does this mean?
Information Technology should be used as a weapon in Information warfare. We must become system integrators encompassing the entire value chain. IT budgets should increase not decrease and should be based on its effect on the entire value chain. CIO's must view themselves and become enterprise economists not just corporate CIO's.
Optimize other phases and disciplines in the value chain, as competitive advantage is provided by many factors, business processes, volume or critical mass, distribution techniques, utilizing the Internet, as demonstrated in the Wal-Mart example.
The winner of Information Warfare will be the entity that understands that Information Technology is the weapon of choice and is capable of integrating the information that encompasses their entire value chain.
Transaction Costs must be reduced to the point where they are equal or less than those of a vertically integrated value chain, or else the ability for emerging countries to beat the West to the consumer through vertical integration with lower transaction costs and lower prices will become a reality in the long run.
# posted by Medical Information : 1:27 AM
King Of Rules Of Choosing The Legitimate Wholesaler
No matter you are a eBay seller, drop shipper or sales distributor, your product source is the key of success. In other words, who has lower priced products is the one who will grab more chances to win the game.
There are tons of wholesalers and each of them claims to have the lowest price offer. Confused? You should be, if you are not aware of the tricks of how business is operated and the complexity of computer-world that touts itself about bursting information, technique and scams.
From personal experience and collective knowledge i want tell you a three-step way to identify the legitimate wholesaler.
Step one: choose a candidate list. You don't have to finish this work in a hurry. Do a wide comparison and make a candidate list that meet your requests. Those companies who have significant advantages in scale, price and diversity of product line should earn your consideration.
Step two: check their reputation and credibility. Weed out those obvious cheaters and ones who have negative track history. Always remember when one is too good to be true, it probably is.
Search the company reputation in Google to find reviews and relative information made by other individuals or organizations. Such as look up the wholesaler website history in whois.com, check Google PR value and Alexa traffic rank. Or you can go with relative message boards or forums to ask for decision-make help.
Thoroughly inspect wholesaler's website. Search all the company information. Legitimate company will state their information clearly and fully. Pay attention to the concrete contacts like a fixed line phone number and physical location which allows you to reach them in person. The missing of any one should add to your doubt. Also legitimate wholesalers usually allow secure online payment via Pay Pal or online credit card transactions.
Step three: make contact. Firstly, you can contact via email. Ask detail information about product condition, shipment and return policies if it have any. In most conditions your will get a prompt reply either tell you the information or refer a link of web page. Notice how long it takes to reply and what kind of manner is displayed.
Still feeling suspicious? Then make a phone call or use the live chat function. Talk about your worries and conditions and listen carefully of their response. Be wary of the company that urges you to take their services.
By now you have gathered all the information necessary. Then here is the final step - place a sample order. Don't be too afraid to place your first order, think it as a test. See if the goods are available as they say and will arrive within the estimated time. And most important check the quality according to its statement.
There are tons of wholesalers and each of them claims to have the lowest price offer. Confused? You should be, if you are not aware of the tricks of how business is operated and the complexity of computer-world that touts itself about bursting information, technique and scams.
From personal experience and collective knowledge i want tell you a three-step way to identify the legitimate wholesaler.
Step one: choose a candidate list. You don't have to finish this work in a hurry. Do a wide comparison and make a candidate list that meet your requests. Those companies who have significant advantages in scale, price and diversity of product line should earn your consideration.
Step two: check their reputation and credibility. Weed out those obvious cheaters and ones who have negative track history. Always remember when one is too good to be true, it probably is.
Search the company reputation in Google to find reviews and relative information made by other individuals or organizations. Such as look up the wholesaler website history in whois.com, check Google PR value and Alexa traffic rank. Or you can go with relative message boards or forums to ask for decision-make help.
Thoroughly inspect wholesaler's website. Search all the company information. Legitimate company will state their information clearly and fully. Pay attention to the concrete contacts like a fixed line phone number and physical location which allows you to reach them in person. The missing of any one should add to your doubt. Also legitimate wholesalers usually allow secure online payment via Pay Pal or online credit card transactions.
Step three: make contact. Firstly, you can contact via email. Ask detail information about product condition, shipment and return policies if it have any. In most conditions your will get a prompt reply either tell you the information or refer a link of web page. Notice how long it takes to reply and what kind of manner is displayed.
Still feeling suspicious? Then make a phone call or use the live chat function. Talk about your worries and conditions and listen carefully of their response. Be wary of the company that urges you to take their services.
By now you have gathered all the information necessary. Then here is the final step - place a sample order. Don't be too afraid to place your first order, think it as a test. See if the goods are available as they say and will arrive within the estimated time. And most important check the quality according to its statement.
# posted by Medical Information : 1:25 AM
Friday, February 01, 2008
Electronic Medical Billing - Should You Use A Clearing House Or Bill Directly To Insurance Companies
Medical Electronic Billing - Thru a Clearinghouse or Going Direct
Most people think that the only choice is whether to bill on paper, or submit your claims electronically. Actually, if you decide to file your claims electronically, that just opens the door to many other decisions that must be made.
First of all, is your software capable of electronic filing? If you are not sure you will need to check with your software vendor to find out. Most likely if your software is capable of handling the NPI number then it is capable of electronic filing.
Once you determine that your software is capable you will need to decide if you are going to use a clearinghouse. A clearinghouse takes all of your electronic claims and reroutes them to the correct insurance carriers. All electronic claims would be batched together into one file and then uploaded to the clearinghouse. Then you would receive reports from the clearinghouse on the status of all the claims you uploaded.
This method has its advantages since you don't have to separate the claims, you just batch them all together and submit them in one file. The clearinghouse usually charges a per claim fee around $0.39 per claim. If you do a high volume of claims, this can get quite costly.
Most clearinghouses will also drop any claims that cannot be submitted electronically to paper and mail them for you. Some offices like this method because they can just batch ALL claims and send them to the clearinghouse and be done with it. There is no printing, stuffing in envelopes and mailing. Usually the drop to paper charge is a little higher than the per claim fee for electronics.
Another method of medical electronic billing is to file them directly to the insurance carrier yourself. You will need special software for this in addition to your practice management system, but basically you will be acting as your own clearinghouse. The software needed can be costly, but you are eliminating the per claim fee. If you submit a high volume of claims the cost may be worth it. As a billing service billing for over 50 providers across the US, this option works well for us.
We are set up direct with our biggest carriers, Medicare, Excellus, Medicaid and a couple others. Then the remainder of claims go thru a company that acts as a clearinghouse. Submitting direct to the insurance carriers can cut up to 3 days off the processing time.
So once you determine that you want to submit your claims electronically, you need to determine which method will be best for your office. Make sure you research all your options. Good Luck!
Most people think that the only choice is whether to bill on paper, or submit your claims electronically. Actually, if you decide to file your claims electronically, that just opens the door to many other decisions that must be made.
First of all, is your software capable of electronic filing? If you are not sure you will need to check with your software vendor to find out. Most likely if your software is capable of handling the NPI number then it is capable of electronic filing.
Once you determine that your software is capable you will need to decide if you are going to use a clearinghouse. A clearinghouse takes all of your electronic claims and reroutes them to the correct insurance carriers. All electronic claims would be batched together into one file and then uploaded to the clearinghouse. Then you would receive reports from the clearinghouse on the status of all the claims you uploaded.
This method has its advantages since you don't have to separate the claims, you just batch them all together and submit them in one file. The clearinghouse usually charges a per claim fee around $0.39 per claim. If you do a high volume of claims, this can get quite costly.
Most clearinghouses will also drop any claims that cannot be submitted electronically to paper and mail them for you. Some offices like this method because they can just batch ALL claims and send them to the clearinghouse and be done with it. There is no printing, stuffing in envelopes and mailing. Usually the drop to paper charge is a little higher than the per claim fee for electronics.
Another method of medical electronic billing is to file them directly to the insurance carrier yourself. You will need special software for this in addition to your practice management system, but basically you will be acting as your own clearinghouse. The software needed can be costly, but you are eliminating the per claim fee. If you submit a high volume of claims the cost may be worth it. As a billing service billing for over 50 providers across the US, this option works well for us.
We are set up direct with our biggest carriers, Medicare, Excellus, Medicaid and a couple others. Then the remainder of claims go thru a company that acts as a clearinghouse. Submitting direct to the insurance carriers can cut up to 3 days off the processing time.
So once you determine that you want to submit your claims electronically, you need to determine which method will be best for your office. Make sure you research all your options. Good Luck!
# posted by Medical Information : 2:04 AM
How The Billing for Your Medical Services Works
If you've been to a doctor, you know how crazy things can get with the billing even if you have insurance. In this article, we seek to explain how this maze of red tape works.
Simply put, medical billing involves a series of communications between a doctor's office and a medical insurer. What is medical billing used for? As you sit atop that cold steel table awaiting your prognosis, your doctor's office is engaging in a dialogue with your current insurance company. The topic of conversation? You, of course. As your doctor checks for all your vital signs, various medical codes are placed next to your personal medical information contained within your file.
Once your doctor leaves the examination room, your file then goes into the hands of a medical secretary, and it is sent electronically to your insurance provider using the codes mentioned above. Once your insurer has your medical information, they then begin to check your policy in order to make sure that your claim is valid. If you are covered insurance wise, your insurer will then pay the claim. If not, your medical request will be rejected.
As a matter of fact, medical claims are rejected nearly 50% of the time. In most cases, a lack of adequate communication between your doctor's staff and the insurance company is to blame. Most of the time, a medical provider will have to contact an insurance company more than once in order to make a claim. Codes can become crossed, and medical diagnoses may be overly complicated causing a bit of a problem. What is medical billing used for when it comes to government medical programs?
Whether you have a private or governmental insurance provider, the billing remains the same. No matter what sort of coverage you currently have, there must be some form of consultation between an insurance provider and a medical facility. It is interesting to note just how many claims are filed every day within the United States (millions), and how many people actually know what a medical claim consists of (hundreds).
Now that you are able to answer the original question (what is medical billing?), you have a better understanding of how insurance companies work. The next time that you visit your doctor's office, think about all the different types of interactions that are occurring at that very moment. It may not be the most intriguing subject, but it does effect nearly every person that's ever made a doctor's appointment.
Simply put, medical billing involves a series of communications between a doctor's office and a medical insurer. What is medical billing used for? As you sit atop that cold steel table awaiting your prognosis, your doctor's office is engaging in a dialogue with your current insurance company. The topic of conversation? You, of course. As your doctor checks for all your vital signs, various medical codes are placed next to your personal medical information contained within your file.
Once your doctor leaves the examination room, your file then goes into the hands of a medical secretary, and it is sent electronically to your insurance provider using the codes mentioned above. Once your insurer has your medical information, they then begin to check your policy in order to make sure that your claim is valid. If you are covered insurance wise, your insurer will then pay the claim. If not, your medical request will be rejected.
As a matter of fact, medical claims are rejected nearly 50% of the time. In most cases, a lack of adequate communication between your doctor's staff and the insurance company is to blame. Most of the time, a medical provider will have to contact an insurance company more than once in order to make a claim. Codes can become crossed, and medical diagnoses may be overly complicated causing a bit of a problem. What is medical billing used for when it comes to government medical programs?
Whether you have a private or governmental insurance provider, the billing remains the same. No matter what sort of coverage you currently have, there must be some form of consultation between an insurance provider and a medical facility. It is interesting to note just how many claims are filed every day within the United States (millions), and how many people actually know what a medical claim consists of (hundreds).
Now that you are able to answer the original question (what is medical billing?), you have a better understanding of how insurance companies work. The next time that you visit your doctor's office, think about all the different types of interactions that are occurring at that very moment. It may not be the most intriguing subject, but it does effect nearly every person that's ever made a doctor's appointment.
# posted by Medical Information : 2:03 AM
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Reduce Medical Billing Time and Overhead Costs for Your Medical Practice
Owning a busy medical practice demands organization, tight schedules, and don't forget - plenty of time to care for every patient. In all the hustle and bustle, the very backbone of your financial well-being, medical billing, can get put on the back burner if you're not careful. But, don't let it get out of hand. Use the tips below to develop a steady stream of capital for your practice and keep your medical billing in check.
Organize your Medical Office
The first step to saving time and overhead costs is to get organized in the office. The office is where all patient information and billing is processed. You can't afford to lose patient or billing information. To organize your office, be sure every paper, form and bill has a designated area or file. Be sure the employees are trained properly so they'll know exactly where all paperwork belongs. This helps prevent lost paperwork, and benefits both your practice and the patient. A lost bill every now and then could result in hundreds or thousands of lost dollars each year!
Use Medical Billing Software
Another time-saver is sophisticated web-based medical billing software. This software is designed to make your medical billing easier and keep it organized. You can quickly retrieve records or past-due bills and claims when needed. You can enter information for insurance companies for quick access to process claims. Medical bills and records are stored at a secure online server instead of on your computer's hard drive. You can access the records from anywhere twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
EMR (Electronic Medical Records)
Some web-based medical billing software includes an EMR, or electronic medical records, feature that enables you to file medical histories on each patient, scan related images for each medical record, and even dictate information for a transcriber to access from another computer. The EMR feature works through online technology, making it easy to outsource jobs such as medical transcription, medical billing, etc.
Use a Medical Billing Service
You may choose to outsource your billing needs by using professional medical billing services. Companies that offer medical billing services usually will provide the necessary medical billing software, training and staff to get the job done - saving you many future headaches! Once you have the software in place, it's just a matter of entering information into a computer, and the medical billing company handles the rest. They keep your medical billing and claims organized, so you don't have to worry with it. You are able to concentrate on treating patients and keeping other pertinent office functions in operation.
Most medical billing companies today will provide medical billing software and training on how to work with the software to help make the process easy for you and your employees. For example, if the medical billing software is designed to be integrated with Microsoft Office, you might receive a video or materials for yourself and employees with the necessary Microsoft Office training.
Whether you choose to do your own billing with web-based medical billing software or use medical billing services, follow the tips above to create a smooth-running office and watch your profits soar!
Organize your Medical Office
The first step to saving time and overhead costs is to get organized in the office. The office is where all patient information and billing is processed. You can't afford to lose patient or billing information. To organize your office, be sure every paper, form and bill has a designated area or file. Be sure the employees are trained properly so they'll know exactly where all paperwork belongs. This helps prevent lost paperwork, and benefits both your practice and the patient. A lost bill every now and then could result in hundreds or thousands of lost dollars each year!
Use Medical Billing Software
Another time-saver is sophisticated web-based medical billing software. This software is designed to make your medical billing easier and keep it organized. You can quickly retrieve records or past-due bills and claims when needed. You can enter information for insurance companies for quick access to process claims. Medical bills and records are stored at a secure online server instead of on your computer's hard drive. You can access the records from anywhere twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
EMR (Electronic Medical Records)
Some web-based medical billing software includes an EMR, or electronic medical records, feature that enables you to file medical histories on each patient, scan related images for each medical record, and even dictate information for a transcriber to access from another computer. The EMR feature works through online technology, making it easy to outsource jobs such as medical transcription, medical billing, etc.
Use a Medical Billing Service
You may choose to outsource your billing needs by using professional medical billing services. Companies that offer medical billing services usually will provide the necessary medical billing software, training and staff to get the job done - saving you many future headaches! Once you have the software in place, it's just a matter of entering information into a computer, and the medical billing company handles the rest. They keep your medical billing and claims organized, so you don't have to worry with it. You are able to concentrate on treating patients and keeping other pertinent office functions in operation.
Most medical billing companies today will provide medical billing software and training on how to work with the software to help make the process easy for you and your employees. For example, if the medical billing software is designed to be integrated with Microsoft Office, you might receive a video or materials for yourself and employees with the necessary Microsoft Office training.
Whether you choose to do your own billing with web-based medical billing software or use medical billing services, follow the tips above to create a smooth-running office and watch your profits soar!
# posted by Medical Information : 3:22 AM
Medical Transcription Industry Top Trends
Technology, offshoring and pricing transparency among the key issues
The changing perceptions of offshoring, pricing transparency, and the ongoing development of voice recognition/speech recognition technology are among the key trends impacting the outsourced medical transcription industry.
Positive shift in perceptions about offshoring
As providers continue to get a better understanding of the overall business benefits of offshore transcription - faster turnaround times which help speed the reimbursement process and reduce cost - the number of organizations using offshore transcription continues to grow. Current negative perceptions about offshore transcription will continue to diminish over time as companies begin to address customer concerns by directing more thorough training of employees and suppliers, conducting regular audits, leveraging technology to better guard Protected Health Information and ensuring that a systematic, thorough approach to HIPAA compliance at all levels (MTs and suppliers) is given the highest organizational priority.
Quality matters
While health care organizations continue to focus on speed, turnaround times and costs, quality transcription is equally important. In fact, hospitals and health systems have shown that they are willing to pay more for increased quality of work. Many offshore transcription companies have taken steps to improve the quality (as well as the security/privacy) of reports by providing their own secure facilities, hiring direct employees, having English-speaking editors perform quality reviews, modernizing their technology and software to enable more direct monitoring of MTs work, providing additional coaching and increasing accountability of both direct employees and suppliers. "We have worked closely with our customers to understand how they define quality, and we have established rigorous criteria that exceed industry standards and meet the needs of our customers," says Jerry Cirino, President and CEO of Heartland Information Services, headquartered in Toledo, OH.
Speech recognition/Voice recognition technology improving, gaining acceptance
While the technology is still being enhanced, speech recognition continues to gain acceptance and is an area in the industry that will continue to see significant growth. Companies that recognize the importance of this technology are either in the midst of building their own speech recognition platforms or have acquired the platforms through mergers and acquisitions. The use of SR platform will lead to a shift in demand for back-end editing, which has resulted in an overall increase in productivity.
The move to Visual Black Character
While a large number of medical transcription companies still use pricing per line, the use of Visual Black Character (VBC) pricing, which is endorsed by AHIMA and MTIA, is emerging as the industry standard. "We want it to be easy for our clients to understand and see the value of what we do. We typically price based on VBC because it is easiest for us or the client to audit and verify," says Dennis Paulik, Executive Vice President of Business Strategies at Heartland.
Pricing transparency
Hospitals and health care systems are looking for their transcription partners to provide pricing transparency, which includes invoice reconciliation and the ability to track what the transcription is actually doing compared to what it says it's doing. "Heartland's document delivery software, Tracker Plus, enables the provider to run a report in real time to determine how many VBCs have run, thus allowing them to reconcile invoices during any given period," says Paulik.
Core competencies not forgotten
The medical transcription industry will continue to focus on ongoing core competencies such as timely turnaround times, faster responsiveness and customer service. With ongoing labor shortages and continued pressure for healthcare organizations to reduce costs, the future of medical transcription, although continuing to evolve and expand, remains strong.
The changing perceptions of offshoring, pricing transparency, and the ongoing development of voice recognition/speech recognition technology are among the key trends impacting the outsourced medical transcription industry.
Positive shift in perceptions about offshoring
As providers continue to get a better understanding of the overall business benefits of offshore transcription - faster turnaround times which help speed the reimbursement process and reduce cost - the number of organizations using offshore transcription continues to grow. Current negative perceptions about offshore transcription will continue to diminish over time as companies begin to address customer concerns by directing more thorough training of employees and suppliers, conducting regular audits, leveraging technology to better guard Protected Health Information and ensuring that a systematic, thorough approach to HIPAA compliance at all levels (MTs and suppliers) is given the highest organizational priority.
Quality matters
While health care organizations continue to focus on speed, turnaround times and costs, quality transcription is equally important. In fact, hospitals and health systems have shown that they are willing to pay more for increased quality of work. Many offshore transcription companies have taken steps to improve the quality (as well as the security/privacy) of reports by providing their own secure facilities, hiring direct employees, having English-speaking editors perform quality reviews, modernizing their technology and software to enable more direct monitoring of MTs work, providing additional coaching and increasing accountability of both direct employees and suppliers. "We have worked closely with our customers to understand how they define quality, and we have established rigorous criteria that exceed industry standards and meet the needs of our customers," says Jerry Cirino, President and CEO of Heartland Information Services, headquartered in Toledo, OH.
Speech recognition/Voice recognition technology improving, gaining acceptance
While the technology is still being enhanced, speech recognition continues to gain acceptance and is an area in the industry that will continue to see significant growth. Companies that recognize the importance of this technology are either in the midst of building their own speech recognition platforms or have acquired the platforms through mergers and acquisitions. The use of SR platform will lead to a shift in demand for back-end editing, which has resulted in an overall increase in productivity.
The move to Visual Black Character
While a large number of medical transcription companies still use pricing per line, the use of Visual Black Character (VBC) pricing, which is endorsed by AHIMA and MTIA, is emerging as the industry standard. "We want it to be easy for our clients to understand and see the value of what we do. We typically price based on VBC because it is easiest for us or the client to audit and verify," says Dennis Paulik, Executive Vice President of Business Strategies at Heartland.
Pricing transparency
Hospitals and health care systems are looking for their transcription partners to provide pricing transparency, which includes invoice reconciliation and the ability to track what the transcription is actually doing compared to what it says it's doing. "Heartland's document delivery software, Tracker Plus, enables the provider to run a report in real time to determine how many VBCs have run, thus allowing them to reconcile invoices during any given period," says Paulik.
Core competencies not forgotten
The medical transcription industry will continue to focus on ongoing core competencies such as timely turnaround times, faster responsiveness and customer service. With ongoing labor shortages and continued pressure for healthcare organizations to reduce costs, the future of medical transcription, although continuing to evolve and expand, remains strong.
# posted by Medical Information : 3:20 AM
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Choose The Best Medical Billing Training Program For You And Save Money Too
There are standard medical billing training requirements to be a 'medical biller'. Employers usually prefer to hire someone who has completed at least nine months of training. So if you want to work in health care but who rather deal with numbers instead of patients you might want to consider one of the many medical billing training courses that are available nationwide. Medical billing specialists handle a wide range of activities including everything from medical office operations, including billing and coding, processing of insurance forms, and using specialized medical billing software.
Medical billing is basically the process covering a wide range of activities but the primary goal of any medical billing company is the processing of medical bills and then submitting claims to right insurance companies in order to receive payments for their clients in a most timely manner. In order to be clear on the payment of a claim, however, the doctor must have complete knowledge of different insurance plans that insurance companies are offering, and the laws and regulations that preside over them.
Check out all the financial assistance programs that are available to you and apply for grants. Find out about federal assistance programs. Federal money is available for online degree programs - do some research. Find out if your course or program qualifies before you sign up. There are a multitude of education loans available. If you do need money to go after your career, keep looking for a solution.
Complete information is easily available online both on how to start a home billing business and develop your career through an online course program.
Learning from home on the Internet may be the best work on a well-paying career. If you plan to sign up at a college or institution, before you sign on the dotted line or pay any fees for training, make sure the institution is accredited.
If you choose an on campus school, after graduating you should be able to find a job in wide variety of health care environments. If you're taking any training locally you can check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure the program, course or school is legitimate.
In the past, specialists were only required to have a high school diploma. So check with your local colleges to find out what career training is available and if there are any licensing requirements. The smaller doctor's offices usually outsource work to qualified businesses who have established an electronic online billing business from their homes.
More job opportunities will be available to you if you have extensive training under your belt. So if you're thinking about becoming a 'medical biller' decide whether you want to attend a local college, take an online training course or a home study course. Schools may be either traditional vocational facilities or alternative distance education or distance learning programs.
There are many online courses available as a career program and starting a billing company. The best career training should include proper certification once you have completed the course. Graduates from most billing schools can plan to earn between $24,000 and $30,000 per year.
Medical billers are increasingly being sought after by clinics, larger medical practices, management services organizations and many other health care providers to perform all of their billing business services. Make sure to compare prices in order to find an on-campus or online school that is within your current budget. Also make sure to find out the graduation requirements.
Today starting your own medical billing business from home has never been easier. There are many Internet training programs that offer introductory, intermediate, and advanced classes. Do try to find financial aid in the form of education loans, federal loans or grants that may be given for online degree programs to make your education experience easier.
Medical billing is basically the process covering a wide range of activities but the primary goal of any medical billing company is the processing of medical bills and then submitting claims to right insurance companies in order to receive payments for their clients in a most timely manner. In order to be clear on the payment of a claim, however, the doctor must have complete knowledge of different insurance plans that insurance companies are offering, and the laws and regulations that preside over them.
Check out all the financial assistance programs that are available to you and apply for grants. Find out about federal assistance programs. Federal money is available for online degree programs - do some research. Find out if your course or program qualifies before you sign up. There are a multitude of education loans available. If you do need money to go after your career, keep looking for a solution.
Complete information is easily available online both on how to start a home billing business and develop your career through an online course program.
Learning from home on the Internet may be the best work on a well-paying career. If you plan to sign up at a college or institution, before you sign on the dotted line or pay any fees for training, make sure the institution is accredited.
If you choose an on campus school, after graduating you should be able to find a job in wide variety of health care environments. If you're taking any training locally you can check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure the program, course or school is legitimate.
In the past, specialists were only required to have a high school diploma. So check with your local colleges to find out what career training is available and if there are any licensing requirements. The smaller doctor's offices usually outsource work to qualified businesses who have established an electronic online billing business from their homes.
More job opportunities will be available to you if you have extensive training under your belt. So if you're thinking about becoming a 'medical biller' decide whether you want to attend a local college, take an online training course or a home study course. Schools may be either traditional vocational facilities or alternative distance education or distance learning programs.
There are many online courses available as a career program and starting a billing company. The best career training should include proper certification once you have completed the course. Graduates from most billing schools can plan to earn between $24,000 and $30,000 per year.
Medical billers are increasingly being sought after by clinics, larger medical practices, management services organizations and many other health care providers to perform all of their billing business services. Make sure to compare prices in order to find an on-campus or online school that is within your current budget. Also make sure to find out the graduation requirements.
Today starting your own medical billing business from home has never been easier. There are many Internet training programs that offer introductory, intermediate, and advanced classes. Do try to find financial aid in the form of education loans, federal loans or grants that may be given for online degree programs to make your education experience easier.
# posted by Medical Information : 12:49 AM
What You Can Do With A Medical Billing School Education
Once you have completed a degree or certificate program at a qualified medical billing school, there are a number of different ways to apply what you have learned. Here are a few examples of what you can do with the medical billing school education and make a comfortable living.
One of the first career options to consider with your medical billing school credentials in place is to seek employment at a doctor's office. You will be able to work with all the abbreviations and other medical jargon that are a normal part of any medical environment. With your expertise, you can make sure that insurance claims are filed properly, that prescriptions and doctor's notes are recorded accurately in each patient file, and that patient invoicing is done in a timely manner. You can easily be a valued part of the office staff, and enjoy your work immensely.
If you prefer a work environment that is larger than a single office, consider going to work in the billing department of an insurance company. With your medical billing school background, you can easily find work checking and verifying information that is submitted on claim forms. The position will allow you to work with doctor's offices and patients to obtain any additional information needed to process the claims, and make sure that correspondence to both physicians and patients is kept current and complete.
As a third option, you can decide to open your own medical billing business. This will allow you to capitalize on your medical billing school education by taking on several clients and taking care of their billing needs. You can work with several different doctors at one time, making sure that payments are posted to their accounts, as well as generate monthly invoicing to patients and to insurance companies. Best of all, this application allows you to set your own schedule, which is always a nice option.
One of the first career options to consider with your medical billing school credentials in place is to seek employment at a doctor's office. You will be able to work with all the abbreviations and other medical jargon that are a normal part of any medical environment. With your expertise, you can make sure that insurance claims are filed properly, that prescriptions and doctor's notes are recorded accurately in each patient file, and that patient invoicing is done in a timely manner. You can easily be a valued part of the office staff, and enjoy your work immensely.
If you prefer a work environment that is larger than a single office, consider going to work in the billing department of an insurance company. With your medical billing school background, you can easily find work checking and verifying information that is submitted on claim forms. The position will allow you to work with doctor's offices and patients to obtain any additional information needed to process the claims, and make sure that correspondence to both physicians and patients is kept current and complete.
As a third option, you can decide to open your own medical billing business. This will allow you to capitalize on your medical billing school education by taking on several clients and taking care of their billing needs. You can work with several different doctors at one time, making sure that payments are posted to their accounts, as well as generate monthly invoicing to patients and to insurance companies. Best of all, this application allows you to set your own schedule, which is always a nice option.
# posted by Medical Information : 12:47 AM
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Common Questions to Ask When Choosing a Medical Transcription Company
Outsourcing of medical transcription services has experienced a steady growth in the last few years as hospitals and clinics come to a greater realization of outsourcing's strategic benefits. Combined with an increased shortage of medical transcriptionists as well as the emergence of increased technical capabilities, hospitals who are deciding to outsource are seeing many overall financial and customer service advantages.
With the increased ease of entry for new transcription companies into the marketplace, many different factors will determine how each will fit within an organization. How does the medical transcription company measure quality? Do they understand the impact they have on patient safety? How do they price? How do they reconcile invoices? Can they deliver the document on the timing physicians require? What processes do they have in place to meet the security requirements for protected health information? Do they have a platform in place to accommodate speech recognition technologies? These are some of the important questions to ask while making a decision that will affect an organization's overall profitability, and below are the answers that will help you when determining what company meets your needs and helps you achieve your goals without sacrificing important factors like quality, turnaround times and customer service.
How do the Medical Transcription Service Organizations (MTSOs) differ?
The outsourced medical transcription industry is fragmented and companies vary from small, locally owned operations to large international companies. MTSOs are different based upon technology, scalability, quality approach and focus, customer service processes, executive involvement and the ability to respond to and resolve issues. As your organization is thinking about partnering with an MTSO, you will want to carefully consider organizational goals and objectives and match them to the MTSO that best meets your company's needs.
What will it cost?
You can avoid surprises by thoroughly understanding the cost and units for billing at the offset. There are two standard ways to price transcription - Visual Black Character (VBC) and standard price per line. MTSOs have appeared to move more toward VBC in the last few years, as the benefits to the business have been growing. MTSOs choose to utilize VBC pricing as it gives their customers a greater ability to audit and verify their costs. In order to determine which cost/pricing strategy works better for your organization, it should give any prospective MTSOs a package that includes the company's existing reports that may help to set the future cost standard.
How does the MTSO guard protected health information?
Whether your MTSO keeps work within the United States or sends it offshore, it is important to determine how sensitive health information will be protected and whether the company has already established processes for handling health information. How is the work audited and how are these people trained to ensure they comply with all security standards? How are quality checks performed and have any others experienced security issues? If it is an offshore home-based model, are vendors required to sign a business associate agreement?
How are MTs assigned to my work?
Try to find out how MTs are assigned work. Does the MTSO have specialists for certain work types, or is there a general pool of MTs to perform various transcription specialties? Would the account have dedicated MTs assigned specifically to certain work types, or will they differ on a regular basis? Dedicated MTs will be able to become more familiar with individual physicians, their speaking patterns and the types of reports they perform, thus eliminating language barriers and transcription errors.
What type of support structure do they provide?
What is the overall structure of their customer service process? Will your company be able to reach its personal representative at any time, or will it be directed to a general 800 number? When it does call in, whom does the call go to and how quickly? Is the IT staff educated to help with varying technical issues and are they easily accessible and timely in their response?
What type of tools/technology do they provide?
The transcription industry is in the midst of an overhaul of its technology capabilities. Staying on top of these trends and learning to differentiate between each company's capabilities will ensure that the right company is chosen to meet personal business needs. Look closely at the capabilities available to distribute, track and capture inbound dictation and outbound reports. Find out if that technology will work for the physicians at your company and where they will be able to access that information. If the MTSO is utilizing a third-party for this technology, will it affect the timeliness of resolving issues? Also, if your organization changes its scope of work, does the MTSO have the appropriate technology in place for speech recognition and electronic health records should the need arise?
How do they ensure quality?
The need for quality work continues to far surpass other transcription needs. What is the quality assurance process? How quickly will the MTSO resolve quality issues, and if the work is unacceptable and fails to meets requirements within the service agreement what processes are in place to receive timely compensation? Is the MTSO currently analyzing their quality structure and taking steps to ensure all MTs are thoroughly trained and their suppliers are regularly audited? How are MTs held accountable? What training takes place? Are MTs organized in narrow work pools by specialty?
How are bills reconciled?
Some companies are focused on pricing transparency, which will allow the organization to be continually aware of any and all charges it will be responsible for. Some companies have a system in place that allows reports to be run in real time, thus allowing their customers to reconcile bills at any time. Find out how the process works and how you will be charged.
How difficult will the MTSO processes be to implement?
Ask how easily the MTSO technology will be to integrate into the organization. Is there an implementation team? How is service maintained once the technology implementation is complete?
About Heartland Information Services
Heartland Information Services specializes in high-quality, full-service medical transcription providing financial and service advantages that helps its clients reach or exceed goals. Heartland provides unparalleled efficiency, reliability and management capabilities while interfacing with virtually any health information system and software. Heartland's corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, India. Heartland Information Services can help you answer these questions.
With the increased ease of entry for new transcription companies into the marketplace, many different factors will determine how each will fit within an organization. How does the medical transcription company measure quality? Do they understand the impact they have on patient safety? How do they price? How do they reconcile invoices? Can they deliver the document on the timing physicians require? What processes do they have in place to meet the security requirements for protected health information? Do they have a platform in place to accommodate speech recognition technologies? These are some of the important questions to ask while making a decision that will affect an organization's overall profitability, and below are the answers that will help you when determining what company meets your needs and helps you achieve your goals without sacrificing important factors like quality, turnaround times and customer service.
How do the Medical Transcription Service Organizations (MTSOs) differ?
The outsourced medical transcription industry is fragmented and companies vary from small, locally owned operations to large international companies. MTSOs are different based upon technology, scalability, quality approach and focus, customer service processes, executive involvement and the ability to respond to and resolve issues. As your organization is thinking about partnering with an MTSO, you will want to carefully consider organizational goals and objectives and match them to the MTSO that best meets your company's needs.
What will it cost?
You can avoid surprises by thoroughly understanding the cost and units for billing at the offset. There are two standard ways to price transcription - Visual Black Character (VBC) and standard price per line. MTSOs have appeared to move more toward VBC in the last few years, as the benefits to the business have been growing. MTSOs choose to utilize VBC pricing as it gives their customers a greater ability to audit and verify their costs. In order to determine which cost/pricing strategy works better for your organization, it should give any prospective MTSOs a package that includes the company's existing reports that may help to set the future cost standard.
How does the MTSO guard protected health information?
Whether your MTSO keeps work within the United States or sends it offshore, it is important to determine how sensitive health information will be protected and whether the company has already established processes for handling health information. How is the work audited and how are these people trained to ensure they comply with all security standards? How are quality checks performed and have any others experienced security issues? If it is an offshore home-based model, are vendors required to sign a business associate agreement?
How are MTs assigned to my work?
Try to find out how MTs are assigned work. Does the MTSO have specialists for certain work types, or is there a general pool of MTs to perform various transcription specialties? Would the account have dedicated MTs assigned specifically to certain work types, or will they differ on a regular basis? Dedicated MTs will be able to become more familiar with individual physicians, their speaking patterns and the types of reports they perform, thus eliminating language barriers and transcription errors.
What type of support structure do they provide?
What is the overall structure of their customer service process? Will your company be able to reach its personal representative at any time, or will it be directed to a general 800 number? When it does call in, whom does the call go to and how quickly? Is the IT staff educated to help with varying technical issues and are they easily accessible and timely in their response?
What type of tools/technology do they provide?
The transcription industry is in the midst of an overhaul of its technology capabilities. Staying on top of these trends and learning to differentiate between each company's capabilities will ensure that the right company is chosen to meet personal business needs. Look closely at the capabilities available to distribute, track and capture inbound dictation and outbound reports. Find out if that technology will work for the physicians at your company and where they will be able to access that information. If the MTSO is utilizing a third-party for this technology, will it affect the timeliness of resolving issues? Also, if your organization changes its scope of work, does the MTSO have the appropriate technology in place for speech recognition and electronic health records should the need arise?
How do they ensure quality?
The need for quality work continues to far surpass other transcription needs. What is the quality assurance process? How quickly will the MTSO resolve quality issues, and if the work is unacceptable and fails to meets requirements within the service agreement what processes are in place to receive timely compensation? Is the MTSO currently analyzing their quality structure and taking steps to ensure all MTs are thoroughly trained and their suppliers are regularly audited? How are MTs held accountable? What training takes place? Are MTs organized in narrow work pools by specialty?
How are bills reconciled?
Some companies are focused on pricing transparency, which will allow the organization to be continually aware of any and all charges it will be responsible for. Some companies have a system in place that allows reports to be run in real time, thus allowing their customers to reconcile bills at any time. Find out how the process works and how you will be charged.
How difficult will the MTSO processes be to implement?
Ask how easily the MTSO technology will be to integrate into the organization. Is there an implementation team? How is service maintained once the technology implementation is complete?
About Heartland Information Services
Heartland Information Services specializes in high-quality, full-service medical transcription providing financial and service advantages that helps its clients reach or exceed goals. Heartland provides unparalleled efficiency, reliability and management capabilities while interfacing with virtually any health information system and software. Heartland's corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, India. Heartland Information Services can help you answer these questions.
# posted by Medical Information : 1:49 AM
Medical Transcription Industry Top Trends
Technology, offshoring and pricing transparency among the key issues
The changing perceptions of offshoring, pricing transparency, and the ongoing development of voice recognition/speech recognition technology are among the key trends impacting the outsourced medical transcription industry.
Positive shift in perceptions about offshoring
As providers continue to get a better understanding of the overall business benefits of offshore transcription - faster turnaround times which help speed the reimbursement process and reduce cost - the number of organizations using offshore transcription continues to grow. Current negative perceptions about offshore transcription will continue to diminish over time as companies begin to address customer concerns by directing more thorough training of employees and suppliers, conducting regular audits, leveraging technology to better guard Protected Health Information and ensuring that a systematic, thorough approach to HIPAA compliance at all levels (MTs and suppliers) is given the highest organizational priority.
Quality matters
While health care organizations continue to focus on speed, turnaround times and costs, quality transcription is equally important. In fact, hospitals and health systems have shown that they are willing to pay more for increased quality of work. Many offshore transcription companies have taken steps to improve the quality (as well as the security/privacy) of reports by providing their own secure facilities, hiring direct employees, having English-speaking editors perform quality reviews, modernizing their technology and software to enable more direct monitoring of MTs work, providing additional coaching and increasing accountability of both direct employees and suppliers. "We have worked closely with our customers to understand how they define quality, and we have established rigorous criteria that exceed industry standards and meet the needs of our customers," says Jerry Cirino, President and CEO of Heartland Information Services, headquartered in Toledo, OH.
Speech recognition/Voice recognition technology improving, gaining acceptance
While the technology is still being enhanced, speech recognition continues to gain acceptance and is an area in the industry that will continue to see significant growth. Companies that recognize the importance of this technology are either in the midst of building their own speech recognition platforms or have acquired the platforms through mergers and acquisitions. The use of SR platform will lead to a shift in demand for back-end editing, which has resulted in an overall increase in productivity.
The move to Visual Black Character
While a large number of medical transcription companies still use pricing per line, the use of Visual Black Character (VBC) pricing, which is endorsed by AHIMA and MTIA, is emerging as the industry standard. "We want it to be easy for our clients to understand and see the value of what we do. We typically price based on VBC because it is easiest for us or the client to audit and verify," says Dennis Paulik, Executive Vice President of Business Strategies at Heartland.
Pricing transparency
Hospitals and health care systems are looking for their transcription partners to provide pricing transparency, which includes invoice reconciliation and the ability to track what the transcription is actually doing compared to what it says it's doing. "Heartland's document delivery software, Tracker Plus, enables the provider to run a report in real time to determine how many VBCs have run, thus allowing them to reconcile invoices during any given period," says Paulik.
Core competencies not forgotten
The medical transcription industry will continue to focus on ongoing core competencies such as timely turnaround times, faster responsiveness and customer service. With ongoing labor shortages and continued pressure for healthcare organizations to reduce costs, the future of medical transcription, although continuing to evolve and expand, remains strong.
About Heartland Information Services
Heartland Information Services specializes in high-quality, full-service medical transcription providing financial and service advantages that helps its clients reach or exceed goals. Heartland provides unparalleled efficiency, reliability and management capabilities while interfacing with virtually any health information system and software. Heartland's corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, India.
The changing perceptions of offshoring, pricing transparency, and the ongoing development of voice recognition/speech recognition technology are among the key trends impacting the outsourced medical transcription industry.
Positive shift in perceptions about offshoring
As providers continue to get a better understanding of the overall business benefits of offshore transcription - faster turnaround times which help speed the reimbursement process and reduce cost - the number of organizations using offshore transcription continues to grow. Current negative perceptions about offshore transcription will continue to diminish over time as companies begin to address customer concerns by directing more thorough training of employees and suppliers, conducting regular audits, leveraging technology to better guard Protected Health Information and ensuring that a systematic, thorough approach to HIPAA compliance at all levels (MTs and suppliers) is given the highest organizational priority.
Quality matters
While health care organizations continue to focus on speed, turnaround times and costs, quality transcription is equally important. In fact, hospitals and health systems have shown that they are willing to pay more for increased quality of work. Many offshore transcription companies have taken steps to improve the quality (as well as the security/privacy) of reports by providing their own secure facilities, hiring direct employees, having English-speaking editors perform quality reviews, modernizing their technology and software to enable more direct monitoring of MTs work, providing additional coaching and increasing accountability of both direct employees and suppliers. "We have worked closely with our customers to understand how they define quality, and we have established rigorous criteria that exceed industry standards and meet the needs of our customers," says Jerry Cirino, President and CEO of Heartland Information Services, headquartered in Toledo, OH.
Speech recognition/Voice recognition technology improving, gaining acceptance
While the technology is still being enhanced, speech recognition continues to gain acceptance and is an area in the industry that will continue to see significant growth. Companies that recognize the importance of this technology are either in the midst of building their own speech recognition platforms or have acquired the platforms through mergers and acquisitions. The use of SR platform will lead to a shift in demand for back-end editing, which has resulted in an overall increase in productivity.
The move to Visual Black Character
While a large number of medical transcription companies still use pricing per line, the use of Visual Black Character (VBC) pricing, which is endorsed by AHIMA and MTIA, is emerging as the industry standard. "We want it to be easy for our clients to understand and see the value of what we do. We typically price based on VBC because it is easiest for us or the client to audit and verify," says Dennis Paulik, Executive Vice President of Business Strategies at Heartland.
Pricing transparency
Hospitals and health care systems are looking for their transcription partners to provide pricing transparency, which includes invoice reconciliation and the ability to track what the transcription is actually doing compared to what it says it's doing. "Heartland's document delivery software, Tracker Plus, enables the provider to run a report in real time to determine how many VBCs have run, thus allowing them to reconcile invoices during any given period," says Paulik.
Core competencies not forgotten
The medical transcription industry will continue to focus on ongoing core competencies such as timely turnaround times, faster responsiveness and customer service. With ongoing labor shortages and continued pressure for healthcare organizations to reduce costs, the future of medical transcription, although continuing to evolve and expand, remains strong.
About Heartland Information Services
Heartland Information Services specializes in high-quality, full-service medical transcription providing financial and service advantages that helps its clients reach or exceed goals. Heartland provides unparalleled efficiency, reliability and management capabilities while interfacing with virtually any health information system and software. Heartland's corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, India.
# posted by Medical Information : 1:48 AM
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