The complex and complicated process of healthcare is based on the premise of certain quality inputs, one of them being information from patient medical records which not only provide valuable diagnostic inputs but also help in revenue cycle management.
Medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records from the dictation of the healthcare professional's encounter with the patient.
This process is a specialized skill requiring the right combination of people, process and technology to meet the criteria of being accurate, timely, secure and cost effective.
As the information from patient medical records is vital to the smooth running of healthcare facilities and medical transcription is the process of creating patient medical records, outsourcing this function to a professional vendor has been found to be an effective fix for all the diverse uses for patient medical records.
The origin of the information in patient medical records comes from the patient- healthcare professional encounter.
Though the material or substance for the patient medical records is provided by the healthcare professionals, transcription services provide the right frame to make this information accessible and user friendly, basically they transform the form of the substance so that it meets the diagnostic, operational and commercial purposes.
How do outsourced these services provide the right frame for the information provided by healthcare professionals on the patient encounter? Creating reports according to required formats/ templates: Once the details of the encounter with patient containing valuable details like demographics, symptoms, treatment provided, tests recommended etc, has been dictated, the process of medical transcription takes over.
It ensures that the records are created according the specifications that apply to the type of report and specialty.
This ensures a legible and easy to understand transcript which meets all requirements Maintaining quality standards:Availing the services of a specialized vendor ensures that patient records are created within the required quality parameters.
This is done using the right process, the right team and the right technology.
This would include:

1. Reducing errors:Due to the very nature of the healthcare profession, doctors/support staff/clinics/hospitals could be starved for time and the audio provided by them could have inconsistencies leading to errors.
   The transcription process applies quality checks involving several levels to ensure that the patient medical records are as accurate as possible
2. Maintaining turnaround time:To serve diagnostic, operational and commercial purposes, patient medical records need to be created on a timely basis.
   It is ensured that turnaround time commitments are met with using the right resources without compromising quality

Ensuring security during the process: Apart from being accurate and timely it is important for the patient information to be kept confidential.
Transcription vendors ensure that HIPAA/ HITECH compliance is maintained throughout the patient medical record creation process Making the process cost effective: Though medical transcription is vital to the smooth running of healthcare facilities, it is an expense, and outsourcing ensures that this process is kept cost effective Providing easy access to patient medical records:While ensuring that the form of the substance provided by the patient- healthcare professional encounter meets all quality standards, service providers also ensure easy accessibility.
They not only provide diverse modes of document delivery they also enable additional features like easy to access archives and HL7 interface for adoption of EMR.
It can be concluded that the outsourcing to the right medical transcription provider provides the right frame to the substance provided by doctors/support staff/clinics/hospitals making it accurate, timely, secure, cost effective and easily accessible