A Complete Description Of Medical Transcription
What is Medical Transcription?
Medical transcription is the process of converting medical audio-recordings created by health care professionals into their text equivalent. The text documents produced from the audio recordings are then used for different purposes medical or legal purposes.
The Medical Transcription Process
The medical transcription process allows the physicians to take fast and efficient dictated recording of a patients’ record, findings, operations and the physicians’ recommendations without the need to manually write them down. This allows the physicians to proceed to more critical tasks directly related to saving lives and not have to worry about proper documentation.
The Medical Transcriptionist
On the side of the medical transcriptionists, they receive the dictated audio-recordings, listen to it and transcribe it. It’s not as easy as it looks because these recordings are heavily abbreviated and filled with medical terms and description of medical analysis and procedure.
Duties of Medical Transcriptionists
The duty of the medical transcriptionist is to transcribe the audio-recordings completely and correctly. A mistake in certain medical terms can lead to negative health effects to the owners of the medical records being transcribed.
So the medical transcriptionist needs proper background on medical terminologies, processes and procedures along with good language skills particularly in grammar and punctuation.
Technology and Medical Transcription
The medical transcription industry benefits a lot from the internet and related technology improvements. This is because data exchange is now much faster between the medical transcriptionists and the consumer of information that includes Doctors, record section of hospitals, insurance agencies and the patients themselves.
In fact the internet is a very efficient platform for medical transcriptionists. Through the internet, medical transcriptionists can receive audio-recordings and send the transcripts of the recordings anywhere in the globe as long as internet connection is available. Doctors on far-flung clinics can have their patients’ audio recording sent to medical transcriptionists in the city and retrieve the information as soon as it’s done without having the need to travel. This allows Doctors more time to focus on their patients and other critical tasks they need to do.
The Medical Transcription Industry Is Growing
Recently, the US labor statistics released a report predicting the further growth of the medical transcription industry. It said that the biggest growth will be experienced by the home-based service providers. This isn’t surprising, considering that technology is making data transmission and retrieval fast and efficient. It only makes sense that in the coming years a lot of medical transcription jobs will be outsourced to work-at-home service providers.
But what is causing the growth? Sad to say that the increase in health care service demand is driving the growth of this allied health service. Remember, the more patients require medical care, the more information will be required to be transcribed. This is the reason why there is an increasing demand for this service.
The professionals in this industry are lucky because it means there will be continuous growth and long term job security in this sector.
Medical Transcription Certificate
Clearly, proper training is required for those who want to start a career as a medical transcriptionist. The proper training must include not only language training but a comprehensive background on medical terminologies, punctuations and procedures and on physiology as well. Most training programs will allow students to take a certification exam at the end of the course, and it’s ideal to take it. However, at present a medical transcription certificate is not an enforced requirement when applying for a job as a medical transcriptionist.
Bringing Back Medical House Calls
House Call Physician services provide extremely useful resource to residents who need house call doctor visits in their homes. Medical House Call patients will have the luxury of being seen at anytime of the day or night, in the comfort of their own home, office, or hotel. House Call Doctor Staff is comprised of well qualified board-certified house call physicians that will be happy to deliver expedient and effective care in a courteous and compassionate manner through virtue of a modern day medical house call in your home, office or hotel.
Patients can expect to receive excellent House call physician care in an unhurried atmosphere. Receive your evaluations with attention to detail, courteous and respectful attitudes. Develop a trustworthy relationship with your House call physician. These are all important aspects of the doctor-patient relationship that we value, and it is an important philosophy to deliver these qualities to patients when providing Medical House Call services.
In bringing Medical House Call service to patients, essentially the hands of time are turned back. We remember how medicine used to be practiced, before busy doctor’s offices, complicated insurance policies, long lines at clinics, rushed office visits, and crowded emergency rooms. We’ve noticed that somewhere along these channels of frustration, doctors began to lose sight of what mattered most… their patients. Remember when the doctor and patient were able to develop trustworthy relationships through Medical House Calls and had all the time necessary to discuss, examine, diagnose, and treat their condition?
The idea behind developing this type of practice model was to minimize the understandable frustrations that both patients and physicians have grown accustomed to in busy modern day medical practices. Medical House Call makes a doctor visit comfortable and relaxed in your own surroundings.
Medical House Call Staff are equipped with the clinical skills and medical supplies needed to care for you in the comfort of your own home or office. Medical House Call is able to treat any acute or chronic medical issues that you would normally see your primary care doctor for with a House call physician.
[Top]Medical Identity Theft – One of the Fastest Growing Crimes
From keeping up with the latest technologies to providing top-notch patient care, there’s no doubt that healthcare industry professionals have a lot on their plate these days. But, would you imagine that one of their major concerns has nothing to do directly with patient care? Healthcare practices are spending large amounts of time and money keeping their practices compliant with the latest HIPAA regulations, and working hard to prevent a new trend in crime – medical identity theft. While it may not be making mainstream headlines, according to Javelin Strategy and Research, fraud resulting from exposure of health data has increased 112% year over year, from 3% in 2008 to 7% in 2009. To put this stat in perspective, medical identity theft is regarded as the fastest growing form of identity theft in America today and it is estimated that each year 250,000 to 500,000 people become victims of medical identity theft. Just like identity theft, medical identity theft is the act of stealing medical records or medical information of a patient. Both the medical facility and the patient suffer great losses once they are victimized by this type of crime. Imagine this scenario – when you check your mail one day, you find a giant bill from a hospital emergency room, yet you haven’t been to the doctor for anything other than a routine visit in years. So where did this five-figure bill with your name on it come from? The answer -someone stole your information and used it to obtain medical treatment and/or prescription drugs. Unfortunately, medical theft is a growing epidemic and is largely attributable to the large volume of paperwork medical providers are required to keep, in order to maintain 100% HIPAA compliance. Instances of medical identity theft are commonly reported when:
* Patients’ records are accidentally faxed or mailed to the wrong person * Medical records are stolen and misused after being disposed of improperly * Laptops containing confidential information or medical records are lost or stolen * Medical files left unattended in file rooms, on staff desks and in door folders; or unrestricted physical access to sensitive medical files.
While these security breaches might sound relatively innocuous, they are a huge concern. Not only does the medical facility face damage to their reputation and restitution fees, but also HIPAA has enacted legislation over the last year that makes such breaches very expensive – and on a punitive scale. Even worse, the victim may not realize the crime has occurred immediately due to lags in billing cycles so the theft is larger and potentially more costly. As if these scenarios aren’t nightmarish enough, add the fact that someone’s medical records could be tampered with, leading to improper medical care or misdiagnosis. With these costs to both victims and facilities in mind, preventing medical identity theft must be a high priority for medical facilities. It’s especially critical for smaller practices to take precautionary measures because they may have fewer internal protocols to protect patients…and shallower pockets to weather such an event. Ways to reduce medical identity theft include:
[Top]How to Choose the Best Medical Editors
Many medical researchers use the services of Medical Editing and proofreading companies. In addition to non-native English speakers who need help with English, many native speakers also find it necessary to enlist a medical editor in order to decode and clarify the jargon and complexity of their medical research. Medical writing plays a large role in disseminating crucial new discoveries to both the public as well as the medical community. Thus, authors must find a balance between communicating the nuances of their research while making their written reports clear and understandable.
The choice of medical editor is crucial to both the acceptance of the article as well as its impact after publication. One aspect of this choice that can be difficult for authors is whether the best medical editor will have a background and degree in science or humanities. Obviously, a science background is particularly useful to medical communications, as an editor can understand the meaning the author intends as well as the vocabulary and format used. On the other hand, one with a background in humanities may have a better handle on improving the read and flow of the manuscript.
An author should not have to choose between the two options because both are essential to producing a high quality manuscript. In particular, a nonnative speaker must be confident that the Medical Editor has extensive background knowledge of his or her medical specialty. For non-native English speakers, a specialized editor is essential because their manuscript may require substantive editing to be understood. An editor must understand the significance of the research and ideas in order to maintain the content and communicate the proper message. While a scientific background is an essential component in medical editing, authors should also be ensured that the editor has extensive training in editing and a firm grasp of all the complexities of the English language. Medical editing customers should never have to choose between an editor more skilled in science versus one with English language expertise as the best medical editor should be well-skilled in both.
Editage provides medical editing and proofreading by editors with technical backgrounds who are also required to improve English language skills through rigorous coursework and examinations. Editages team includes editors with educational backgrounds across multiple areas in medical and life sciences. Forty-eight editors have passed the challenging BELS (Board of Life Sciences) examination. While clearly qualified in their scientific backgrounds, our editors are also highly trained native English speakers. The initial English exams are so challenging that only 0.02% of all applicants pass through all rounds. After acceptance, editors are subject to intensive modules that teach the details of every aspect of the English language. Thus, clients do not have to choose between a person more skilled in science versus one with perfect English for his or her medical editing needs. Editage provides researchers with a team of editors who will ensure that a papers scientific content is maintained while perfecting its English.
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