I am starting to get feedback from several of my former clients who have completed approximately a year of using EMR software in their practices. My former clients are verbalizing their extreme distaste for having to use an EMR. Some physicians have decided to use a transcription service again due to loss of revenue from using an EMR. In the time it takes the physician to point, click and type a diagnosis/assessment/plan, a transcription service can actually save money for the physician. The physician/client relationship is no longer compromised and medical documentation can once again become the work of medical document experts in the field, such as our company.

Can you tell me if your physicians are happy with their EMR? Would they consider using both EMR and transcription?

We are a full service medical transcription company having been in business since 1989. We have the most up to date equipment, call-in lines, HIPAA complaint FTP site, etc.

If your physicians are unhappy having to spend their precious time clicking, pointing and typing, when they are losing an average of 1 – 3 patient visits for every 1 patient they now see, give us a call. The U.S. Economy has been harsh on physician’s practices. The government may force you to use an EMR in your practice and the EHR does have attributes. It is your choice if you want to continue losing revenue because of it.

Isn’t it time to get back to seeing patients instead of looking at a computer screen? Isn’t it time to build the practice, rather than seeing less patients because of being bogged down with an EMR? EMR and transcription … it’s the perfect marriage for your practice. You will begin to see an immediate rise in revenues. You can go back to being a physician instead of a typist!

Louise Hancock
Owner
Medi-Script Plus Medical Transcription Services, Inc.

 I stayed in denial for quite some time that EMR (electronic medical record) would eventually be taking business away from me.  After all, I had been the sole transcription service provider for the county I live in for 25 years.  Aside from a few independent transcriptionists , I had no competition, whatsoever.   I was blessed and successful. 

I could make all the valid complaints in the world regarding EMR;  how the doctor can’t pay enough attention anymore because they are busy typing, how important details of your medical record can’t be templated, etc.  The world of technology has outgrown the way physicians and medical providers document their medical records.   Even physicians who adamantly opposed switching over to the new technology, were swayed by attractive incentives offered by the government.  This was the deciding factor. “Meaningful use”  has become the hot new keyword or hashtag on search engines.   

 The successful business that I grew from its infancy to where it was only a year or so ago has slowly dwindled.  Some transcription services paid attention and early-on partnered with software firms specializing in the new way medical data would be captured.  Eventually all transcription companies will fall prey to technology and they too, will become a thing of the past.  We smile at the picture of a woman sitting in a steno pool, typing on a manual typewriter many years ago.  Someday someone will say “I remember when a medical transcriptionist transcribed medical reports and it was a very difficult job.”

 Technology is directing our world to a new place.  In the blink of an eye the neighborhood Kodak camera stores that developed your film were closed due to the invention of the digital camera.  The post office is in dire straits and struggles to keep delivering mail because of the invention of email.  IPods and MP3 players swiftly took over the music industry and cassette tapes and CDs are a thing of the past (not to mention record players).  Car manufacturers barely had time to introduce the selling feature of a CD player in a new car, before they quickly started manufacturing cars with IPod capability. 

 I thank God we are still a viable company.   We still transcribe for medical providers and surgery centers that have an EMR platform and our transcription is integrated into their EMR.  We continue to look for more opportunities such as those.  We have to change with the times and diversify what we offer.   We now offer our services to all businesses and have entered into business with legal firms, video production companies and small businesses that can actually save money by outsourcing to our company.  All is not lost; just changed.

The first two blogs in this series talked about what you should not do when you dictate! I’m hoping someone read those blogs and may have changed some bad habits.

Let’s talk about making good dictation habits.  I’ll list some dictation tips below:

• Purchase a digital recorder that dictates in stereo.  They are extremely inexpensive
  and can be purchased for as little as $42.00. If you want all the bells and whistles you can spend more.  If you dictate on a call-in system, please use digital phone lines as analog phone lines will not record your voice.
• Sit in a quiet room to dictate!
• Provide transcriptionist with demographics, perhaps an appt sheet, resident’s listing, etc.
• Always spell names.  There can be 3 or 4 spellings to some common first names, i.e., Christian, Kristen, Kristan, Christan, Krystan.
• Keep a blank template next to you and follow the order of the template.  There is nothing worse than a report that runs on and on without headers or topics.  Important information gets lost in long running paragraphs.
• If you must speed through the physical exam portion of the report, offer the transcriptionist a standard dictation and dictate the words “use template” and then change pertinent findings.  This saves your voice and saves the transcriptionist from struggling to understand what you are saying.   We truly understand your need to be efficient and timely.
• Be careful with the buttons on your recorder!  You may not realize you can easily cut off a person’s name or the end of the Assessment and Plan.
• Make sure when completing all your dictations that your recorder is turned off and in locked position.   There have been physicians who unknowingly left their recorder turned on  for 8 hours straight and had several personal conversations recorded while doing that!
• Please speak loud and clear without mumbling or moving your mouth away from the microphone on the recorder.
• If you have laryngitis, please dictate when feeling better!  If you can only speak in a whisper, we can’t hear you either!

I hope this series of blogs offering you helpful hints on dictation methods will help streamline your dictation.   A few small enhancements can make all the difference when producing a clean medical report.  When your medical findings are well-documented and accurate, then you are providing a true service to your patients.

In the first blog regarding dictation practices, we talked about how important the accuracy and perfection of your medical record is when viewed by your colleagues and other medical professionals.  Part 2 of this series will concentrate on perfecting your dictation skills so that the transcriptionist can accurately transcribe your spoken word and create a pristine document.  As a medical transcription service provider for many years, we have encountered many of the following poor dictation methods.

Are you guilty of the following?

• Dictating while chewing on food
• Dictating while flipping x-rays in front of your recorder
• Dictating at the speed of lightening to the point of losing your breath
• Mumbling into the recorder
• Dictating in a hallway or room with multiple people talking in the background
• Dictating at home with background noise from animals and family
• Dictating in a car
• Dictating in a bathroom with water running
• Dictating on a poor telephone line if calling in your dictation
• Dictating with a soft-spoken voice, such that the recorder will barely pick up your voice

If you are guilty of any of the above dictation methods, please remember the transcriptionist can only transcribe what she hears and can’t transcribe what she doesn’t hear!   Background noise cancels out your voice.  This sometimes creates a scenario of a guessing game at what is being heard and possibly wrong medical terms or medications can be transcribed.  Worst of all, the transcriptionist must leave multiple blanks in your dictated report leaving questions unanswered regarding a patient’s medical history, medications, examination, lab results or your impression and plan.  If you were reading a report a physician dictated on you or a family member, what would be your impression of that report?

Part 3  Dictation 101 coming soon…

Part 1

Your medical records say who you are!  I have reviewed and edited thousands of medical reports in my years as a medical transcription service provider.  I have listened to thousands of voices dictating their medical reports (maybe even your report!).  In my local area, I am the “go to” person when someone wants a referral for a good doctor.  I can tell them who listens and who is in a hurry.  I can tell them who is thorough and who is not.   It is a rare physician that likes to dictate.  It is truly a chore that adds to the hours in your day.  However, like brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing will give you a beautiful smile; a well dictated medical report reveals your integrity and virtuosity to a multitude of medical professionals who may review your dictated report.

 Most patients don’t see your dictated report, but other physicians and hundreds of other medical providers will see that dictated report.  A patient’s report may pass hands or be sent electronically to many other medical providers and your name is at the bottom of that report. Would you prefer that report to be esteemed or will that report show that you are a poor medical provider due to lack of information dictated, blanks left on the page due to poor dictation or simple statements like “see chart”.  Most providers looking at this report can’t see “the chart”, so that leaves little or no information given about the patient.

 In the coming weeks, I am going to give some dictation pointers so that your medical records can be  “esteemed”.

]]> http://mediscriptplus.com/blog/2011/09/15/dictation-101/feed/ 0 http://mediscriptplus.com/blog/2011/08/09/budget-minded-medical-transcription/ http://mediscriptplus.com/blog/2011/08/09/budget-minded-medical-transcription/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:53:39 +0000 Louise http://mediscriptplus.com/blog/?p=39 We understand the cost of medical transcription can be exorbitant and a large part of your practice budget.  Have you thought about contacting your transcription service to discuss your budgetary concerns?  I’m afraid you might not have a friendly answer in most cases.  Today’s economy dictates the need for an understanding between service provider and client regarding budgetary concerns and the cost of medical transcription.

You may think it’s difficult to find a service that wants to be compassionate about your budget!  We are that kind of company!  Most transcription services want you to think there is no way to compromise on price.  Show us what you can afford…. Let’s talk!

• We will not compromise the quality of your medical records due to budget
• We will not compromise the friendly nature of our support staff
• We will provide a tailor-made program just to suit your needs

If we take a look at the “big picture” it isn’t how much money we make this year or that year, it is how we react to the tough times.  I have also heard many times that hard times are a character builder.  When someone says that, you want to roll your eyes and say, “I’ve got plenty of character from those difficult times”!

The medical transcription industry has gone through a metamorphosis in the last several years, making industry owners take a step back, scratch their heads and look at business in an entirely different way.  What was once a flourishing business has now become a challenge to our livelihoods.  Medical transcription is not dying; it is just changing with the times.

During those periods of time when it seems that I have no control over whether business is coming or going, I must admit my faith quivers but that is only short-lived and I actually gain strength and courage to do all the things that have been apathetically lying dormant in my head.   Truly, I believe apathy is the enemy!