Benefits of Outsourcing Transcription To A Medical Assistant
Medical Transcription, or MT, is the process of manually converting audio reports dictated by nurses or physicians into text format. This is done primarily to comply with emerging electronic health records (EHR) and Health IT initiatives. Also, this is an easier way to access patient data without listening to hours of audio footage.
The use of transcription dates back to 1975, and it was first used in the manufacturing sector. However, after the introduction of electric typewriters, medical personnel adapted to medical transcriptions. That later evolved from typewriters to word processors, and now, computers. The most modern approach to transcribing is the recently introduced speech transcribing, the accuracy of which is not reliable enough to replace human transcribing, such as with the help of a virtual medical assistant.
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Medical Transcriber?
The work that goes into medical transcription is both technical and tedious and requires knowledge of special software. Apart from this, you simply might not have the time to run a medical practice, handle staff, and attend to patients from morning to night to give medical transcribing the attention it needs.
Some of the most significant advantages of outsourcing medical transcription in medical practice are -
Better Attention To Patients
The relationship you share with your patients is an integral part of why they chose to come to you for their medical needs time and again. Therefore, it is essential that your patient feels like their doctor is familiar with their medical history. However, with a steady flow of new and old patients in your clinic every day, it is almost impossible to keep a mental track of everyone’s records.
Having easy access to their files gives you a complete overview of their medical histories and can be a massive help to you while treating your clients. You can review their medical data at a glance to become familiar with their previous health conditions and history of treatment at your clinic. It instantly makes the patients feel more secure, instead of you asking about their situation every time they walk through your office door.
Improving outcomes in this way is one of the latest trends in patient engagement, and so it’s worth staying up to speed with developments and benefits made possible by outsourcing transcription.
Better Time Management
Running a medical practice is hard work, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed with work. From tending to patients who visit the clinic, tracking your appointments, managing staff, and ensuring everything is running smoothly, medical transcribing might seem like the last thing on your mind. Still, it’s an integral part of your work and needs to be managed.
Therefore, you can hire a data entry virtual assistant to ensure that all your patient records are carefully processed into the system. For example, transcripts of patient examinations can easily be done remotely; you just need to record the examinations and send the files to your virtual medical assistant at the end of the day.
Time Zone Convenience
When you outsource your medical transcription needs, you are most likely handing them over to a person overseas, in a different country, and in a different time zone.
At Wishup, our remote assistants are based in India, and the difference in shift timings could very well work to your advantage. You can send the files over to them at the end of your day when they begin their workday and have the transcriptions done before your next working day begins. It reduces time wastage and gives you quick access to patient records.
Higher Quality of Medical Records
Having a medical transcription method for your clinic is one thing. Still, the transcription also needs to adhere to global standards set by HIPAA and follow the Medical Transcription Process, which involves accuracy in editing, proofreading, and reviewing medical records.
You might not necessarily have the skills or knowledge of these intricate protocols nor the time to pay attention to the little details in transcription records. At Wishup, our highly-qualified data entry assistants with years of experience to back them up can notice even the most minute mistakes and produce faster results.
Lesser Investment On Infrastructure
Let’s say you just started your medical practice, and you have to prioritize the areas where you invest your capital, as it might take over two years for you even to begin seeing profits. Initially, you might want to focus on investing in the best quality of medical infrastructure in your clinic.
You might not have a lot of resources on investing in hiring a full-time data entry operator or the tech and software they might require for medical transcription. Hiring a virtual medical assistant is a huge asset in this regard because outsourcing agencies have their BYOT (Bring Your Own Tech), which significantly reduces your investment. In addition, hiring them on an hourly basis also helps you save a significant amount of money.
Upscale and Downscale Easily
In your business, you might have months with a heavy influx of patients, requiring a lot of transcription work. Then, depending on the workload, you can hire as many virtual assistants as you need to take care of the additional workload.
Similarly, you may also have slower months, when either the number of patients decreases or when a big chunk of your digitalization process has been completed. Then you can just reduce the number of your virtual assistants and save additional costs.
The same cannot be easily done with full-time employees who have time-specific contracts. With freelancers, you have the liberty of terminating contracts as soon as the project you hired them for is completed.
No Additional Training
Medical transcribing involves a lot of specialized technical jargon. Your medical data entry operator must be familiar with this vocabulary to process the audio files into the system properly. Our virtual medical assistants at Wishup complete the required training to be medical data operators before taking up projects.
You will not have to incur additional resources like time and cost to train your staff by hiring a remote medical assistant. Therefore, you can be sure that you are getting the highest quality of service, as your assistants already have the skills and experience working in the medical field. Having access to accurate patient notes will also help you provide the best possible service for your patients.
Quick Adaptation To Your Work Culture
It takes employees time to adapt to any working environment and work culture as with any organization or business. It might take several weeks for a new employee to become familiar with the infrastructure and software at your workplace. With a virtual remote assistant, you don’t have any of these problems.
Virtual medical assistants are already acclimated to the freelancer work style, have previous experience working with medical practices remotely, and, best of all, have their systems and software that they are comfortable working with. They will also be able to adapt quickly to any changes in transcription format or requirements because they will be working with their own technology.
Reduce Risk of Burnout
Taking a lot of the workload of running a medical practice into your own hands, you run a considerable risk of burning out. Burnout is incredibly high in the medical sector and affects everyone from physicians to the nursing staff. Reduce work stress and create a healthier work-life balance for you and your team by outsourcing secondary tasks to a virtual data entry assistant.
Better Patient Information Security
Patient privacy and confidentiality should be on the top of your priorities while attending to clients. For example, when you outsource medical record transcription to a freelance data entry operator from an outsourcing agency, you are guaranteed complete confidentiality and protection of client information, and not just because your data entry operator is from another part of the world.
“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” —Arianna Huffington.
You can only ensure that you provide the highest quality of service to your patients if you function at your best. Therefore, it is essential to efficiently segregate your workload and delegate the secondary tasks to qualified individuals you can trust to do a good job.
A virtual data entry assistant will ensure that you receive quality work every single time and help you have a life outside of work, which is essential to have a healthy and relaxed mind and give your patients the best possible care.
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