Many physicians are feeling the pressure when it comes to electronic health records and the amount of time they demand. Whether it be inputting new data or editing existing information, EHR documentation can be tedious and time consuming. In fact, one of the main reasons physicians are working overtime is simply to catch up on patient documentation.
Odds are, your physicians and medical staff are already bogged down with a million other duties. In this case, it may be time to hire a medical transcriptionist.
Outsource vs. In-house
The question then becomes: Should I outsource medical transcription or hire an in-house transcription team? When in fact, hiring an in-house transcriptionist might actually add to the frustration. In other words, overseeing a medical transcription department is hard work and something of a paradox.
As documentation needs continue to grow so does the demand for medical transcriptionists. This requires a constant influx of new workers. This means that the time your physicians were spending on transcribing their own notes will be replaced with the hiring, firing and HR roles of your in-house transcriptionists.
Medical transcription outsourcing is the best solution to all the problems associated with managing a medical transcription department on your own. Many administrators, HR, and medical doctors worry about outsourcing or simply don’t know how it works. Keep reading to discover some of the chief benefits of outsourcing your transcription needs!
Benefits of Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services
Saves Money
There are many different benefits to medical transcription outsourcing services. We’ll start with what most people love to hear: it saves money!
You can outsource your medical transcription services at a much more affordable rate than hiring an in-house transcriptionist. With most outsourced services you only have to pay for the work that is transcribed. For example, if there is no dictation or if you go on vacation you are paying for transcriptionists to do nothing (more on this later). There are tremendous savings when you don’t have to pay salaries, benefits, and other costs associated with a direct hire.
Solves Staffing Issues
Speaking of direct hires, one of the big advantages of medical transcription outsourcing companies is that it can solve any staffing issues you may be experiencing. What’s more, it’s the absolute easiest way of doing so!
You’ll notice quickly when hiring local transcriptionists, it’s tough to keep a good team in place. There is a high rate of employee turnover, your transcriptionists might be getting poached by your competition. And that leaves your company holding the bag.
Through medical transcription outsourcing, you get as many employees as you need, whenever you need them. And they are all highly trained and experienced, so you don’t have to worry about starting training all over again.
Scaling Service
While this is true of other fields too, there is something very frustrating about medical transcription services. Inevitably, some months and seasons are going to be busier than others.
This puts employers in a bind. You either hire just a few transcriptionists and then the backlog of work increases when the workload picks up. Or you hire too many, and you watch them twiddle their thumbs during the seasons where there is not much to do.
With outsourcing, you get the benefits of a scalable service. They can handle any amount of work that you throw at them, and you don’t have to worry about the constant cycle of hiring and firing new employees as the number of work changes.
Industry Experience
When outsourcing medical transcription, it is particularly important to find a company with a proven track record. In some circles outsourced transcription has gotten a bad name because people outsourced to the wrong companies resulting in the following; poor accuracy, slow turnaround times, transcriptionists not following physician formats, and security breaches.
A qualified medical transcription company in many cases has been in the business longer than many transcription departments at various medical offices. They offer a wealth of experience and insider knowledge, and this is part of why they provide so many potential benefits for your company.
Not all medical transcription companies are equal when it comes to security. It is very important to partner with a company that can guarantee the security of your patient information. Ask for references and how they would handle the security of your patient data. Ask them how long they have been around as this can be an indicator of the kind of work they do. It’s important to work with a company that will not only save you money but protect the security of your personal health information.
Think of it this way: the alternative to medical transcription outsourcing is to hire a new person and then have to train them from the ground up. Why would you do that when you could hire the most experienced workers in the field, all while saving money?
Low Risk
We’ve beat around this bush a bit, but let’s be explicit. Medical transcription outsourcing to an experienced and qualified transcription company is one of the lowest risks your business will ever take.
The companies that have plenty of industry experience and some of the best raw talent in the world of transcription are a good bet. Medical transcription outsourcing doesn’t mean you are “settling for less” in terms of employees; it means that you have decided to use the very best.
Throw in the low-cost and easy contracts for services, and you’ve got a great deal that can potentially transform your business, all with little or no risk to you and your business.
Speedier Transcription
When it comes to medical transcription services, speed is the name of the game. You definitely want accuracy, but you also need a team that can handle the workload in a timely manner.
The good news is, that medical transcription companies specialize in completing their work in a very timely manner. This is because they are genuine specialists: they focus on doing one thing and doing it very well.
And we can’t ignore that outsourcing makes things speedier on your end as well. Suddenly, you have fewer people and teams that you have to manage personally, allowing you to focus on other aspects of the company that might need your expertise. This also applies to prior authorization services and medical scribes
Easier for HR
So far, we’ve focused a lot on why managers and CEOs would benefit from outsourcing to medical transcription companies. But you know who else really benefits from this? Human Resources!
Previously, every new addition to your transcription team needed to be vetted, interviewed, given the appropriate paperwork, and so on. Even ignoring the sheer cost of hiring multiple salaried transcribers, the paperwork alone is a huge headache.
When it comes to medical transcription outsourcing though, you get all the benefits of having a team of specialists without the annoyances of filling out a team’s worth of paperwork. This streamlines HR as much as it streamlines other aspects of your business, allowing everyone to focus on other problems that need solutions.
Final Thoughts
Medical transcription outsourcing to an experienced and qualified provider is more than a solution to a few problems. It’s a way to revolutionize how your company handles transcription and transform it into a business that is better prepared for the 21st century.
DataMatrix Medical offers the medical transcription services you and your customers deserve. To see how we can make tomorrow more profitable than today, download our free guide, How To Optimize Clinical Productivity Through Outsourcing!
