Monday 22 August 2011

Enhance Patient Care by Outsourcing Medical TranscriptionRW (2)

How does Outsourcing Medical Transcription lead to Enhanced Patient Care?

The Medical transcription or medical typing industry in Australia is an area that requires specialized knowledge and accuracy which makes it a cumbersome yet necessary factor for doctors, clinics, and hospitals. Many hospitals and health care providers in Australia are turning towards outsourcing the clinical documentation process because of numerous benefits without sacrifice in the quality of care. A medical typist has the responsibility of ensuring exceptional accuracy since this affects patient care directly and entails great responsibility as well as specialized and in-depth knowledge of medical terminology and medical transcription.

Time
Outsourcing the medical typing process not only puts less pressure on the healthcare providers’ resources but also saves a lot of time which can be dedicated towards quality patient care, research or related activities. It can be a great option if you are in a specialty that does not encounter large patient volumes, such as plastic surgery, because you do not have to maintain an entire staff for a few patients. Also, reputed Medical transcription firms provide error-free and effective clinical documentation delivery in quick turnaround time.

Patient Care
In spite of the ongoing debate about the quality of the finished product as far as outsourcing medical typing is concerned, numerous doctors have found it an effective way to save money as well as maintain accuracy. Checking out the credentials of the company and their staff to whom you are outsourcing your medical transcription requirements is the first step to ensure the quality and efficiency of the service provided. By offloading your staff’s work partly through outsourcing medical transcription, you can surely enhance their efficiency and commitment towards patient care which is your primary concern.

Lower Costs
Medical transcription outsourcing can be quite cost-effective as you do not need to recruit, train, and maintain specialist Medical typists and arrange the office space and equipment etc. for in-house transcription. And the physicians or hospitals can achieve all this without sacrificing time and quality. This is one of the prime factors that make outsourcing a good alternative for doctors, hospitals, and health care providers. Moreover, because of outsourcing and the fact that transcriptionists can work from home, more and more people are opting for medical transcription as a profession which has further fuelled the competition and has helped in increasing the efficiency and accuracy of medical typists. Employee insurance, parking allowance, retirement and payroll management expenses can be avoided with outsourcing.

Referrals
Medical transcription outsourcing can be a boon in multispecialty hospitals and clinics by providing quick, effective, and accurate clinical documentation. The specialist physicians can utilize these services to generate and deliver accurate clinical data to the referring physician in quick turnaround time, in order to efficiently secure their referral network. This also goes a long way to ensure that patient care and privacy is given priority.

The IT Impact
The recent boom in the IT sector has played its role in almost every aspect of many businesses and medical transcription is no exception. The IT revolution has helped in the timely performance of medical typists due to better access to faster and accurate IT tools and software ensuring quick transfer and delivery options.
There are numerous advantages of outsourcing the medical transcription process and the cost effectiveness outweighs the risks, improving the quality of patient care and many physicians and hospitals have found that outsourcing can be frugal and efficient at the same time.

For more information about medical transcription, Australia, please visit meddatacarepro.com.au

About Med DataCare Pro:
Med DataCare Pro (http://www.meddatacarepro.com.au) – which has been a leading Medical Transcription or medical typing company in Australia – has been an ideal ally for practitioners/hospitals/clinics desirous of implementing HRIP compliance programs that ensure transparent conduct of healthcare services, leading to credibility in the healthcare fraternity. Known for its expertise and ingenuity, Med DataCare Pro is truly a valued healthcare service provider.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Guidelines for Adhering to Regulation on Information Privacy – NSW Law

The Health Records and Information Privacy Act (HRIP) – which was commissioned consequent to growing concern over undesirable proliferation of health information of patients, both in public as well as private sector healthcare setups – has been a sweeping law overseeing the collection, storage, and use of health information in NSW. What has been notable is the fact the HRIP Act is an over-rider to all the preceding health information protection laws such as NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (the PPIP Act), and the Commonwealth Privacy Act; enabling organizations to migrate to an all-inclusive set of guidelines for ensuring health information privacy.

As the Health Records and Information Privacy Act mandates health organizations to conduct their operations in congruence with the legal framework for protecting health information from getting disseminated to prohibited sources, there exists an underlying overhaul of both understanding and conducting of the practices that have a direct impact on health information privacy.

Tried and tested, the following set of guidelines has been known not only to orient healthcare organizations to the best practices in health information privacy, but also achieve the level of adherence as demanded by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act:

Guidelines for Complying by HRIP Act

Acquainting yourself with the Meaning of Health Information

The term, health information’, being fundamental in health information privacy, needs to be thoroughly understood by all of your staff so that they can make valid judgment on what health information comes under the ambit of health information privacy. Typically the following are covered under health information in section 6 of the HRIP Act:

  • Physical or mental health or a disability of an individual
  • Individual’s express wishes about the future provision of health services to him or her
  • Health service provided, or to be provided, to an individual
  • Other personal information collected in connection with the donation of human tissue
  • Genetic information that is or could be predictive of the health of an individual or their relatives or descendants
  • Any other personal information collected to provide, or in providing a health service.
  • Knowing What Information to Collect, How to Store and Access, and the Extent of Disclosure
    Having understood the meaning of health information that comes under the ambit of
    the act, the next step is getting down to the business of collecting, storing and accessing, and the extent of disclosure that can be made within the permissible degree as dictated by the HRIP Act.
  • Familiarize yourself with the 15 Health Privacy Principles (HPPs)
    Prior to setting out on collecting, storing and accessing, and the extent of disclosure, is a thorough acquaintance with the 15 health privacy principles (HPPs) that are legally binding, regulatory, and key to the HRIP Act.
  • Evaluate Existing Practices against Health Privacy Principles (HPPs)
    Having known the 15 health privacy principles (HPPs) in detail, proceed with evaluation of your current practices against the best practices recommended by the health privacy principles (HPPs), and elevate your practices accordingly.
  • Apply an Integrated Approach to Implementation
    The best way to comply by, and deliver on the HRIP Act is to bring in an integrated change to current practices that elevate to standards of the HRIP Act; a thorough run down of all the 15 health privacy principles will render the integrated approach easy.
  • Train Staff and Promote Awareness
    Adequate training of staff is the prerequisite in ensuring a successful and fruitful implementation of best practices in health information privacy as per the governing HRIP Act. Therefore, it is imperative that your staff know, understand, and practice the principles set out in act.
  • Ensure Timely Resolve of Remote Cases of Breach of the HPPs
    Despite a comprehensive system in place to comply by the HRIP Act, there are bound to be rare occurrences of breach of the HPPs, which call for timely resolution internally, so as to prevent them from escalating to complex legal cases.

Although practitioners/hospitals/clinics across Australia have been directing considerable human and technological resources towards HRIP compliance programs, yet there has been a unanimous consensus for consulting a medical typing specialist that can effectively iron-out in-house competency gap, and comprehensively undertake Health Records and Information compliance on their behalf at a relatively lesser cost.


About Med DataCare Pro:

Med DataCare Pro (http://www.meddatacarepro.com.au) – which has been a leading Medical Transcription or medical typing company in Australia – has been an ideal ally for practitioners/hospitals/clinics desirous of implementing HRIP compliance programs that ensure transparent conduct of healthcare services, leading to credibility in the healthcare fraternity. Known for its expertise and ingenuity, Med DataCare Pro is truly a global healthcare service provider.

For More Info:Medical Typist, Medical Trascription Services,Medical Transcription Benefits, 99% Accuracy Guaranteed

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Five Important Things to Consider before Choosing Medical Typing Services in Australia

The demand for healthcare across Australia and the need for specialization in medical documentation have made medical typing an important function in the running of healthcare institutions like hospitals, individual practices, pathology labs and radiology diagnostic centers. The medical transcription industry has seen enormous growth because of the increase in population as well as the number of health care providers. The process of medical typing is critical for patients as well as doctors because it can impact the decisions taken later regarding the care given to patients by physicians. It becomes important to choose a professional and efficient medical transcription service provider in order to maximize revenue while reducing financial losses and inadvertent errors in the health care process itself. Here are the five most important things to consider as an Australian physician before choosing a medical transcription company.

Experience
The best way to ensure the reliability and efficiency of medical transcriptionists is to seek experienced professionals who can deliver properly formatted, edited, and reviewed medical transcription document. The most important aspect that experience ensures is trustworthiness and accuracy which in turn guarantee that you have reliable data in risky situations that may arise in the future. These risks can range from litigation to the accuracy of the treatment provided to the patient. Since medical transcription is a specialized field of work, it is very lucrative with stiff competition among transcriptionists, making it open to dishonest claims by some providers. This situation can easily be avoided if doctors seek certified and experienced staff with enough evidence to prove their past experience. It is important to note that in addition to possessing the skills of a Medical Typist a person needs good listening skills, knowledge of medical terminology as well as ensure that the transcripts comply with Australian healthcare policies as well as procedures and laws under patient confidentiality; the knowledge and skills required to ensure these compliances develop with experience.

Accuracy and Reimbursements
Good medical typing services inevitably enhance the revenue of the hospital, clinic or the physician by facilitating accurate and reliable claims. The accuracy of medical transcriptionists directly affects the revenue of the physician, clinic, or hospital because claims can be denied on a mere technicality due to errors in the transcription process. This can be avoided by ensuring that you hire experienced and accurate medical typists in order to maximize your revenue.

Turnaround Time
The turnaround time plays a vital role in the medical transcription industry since health and lives are at stake along with the financial and legal aspects of the health care provider. The best way to ensure a better turnaround time is to hire established, experienced transcriptionists who do not work alone but are part of a team. This ensures that they can handle larger volumes of work without sacrificing quality or the cost effectiveness of the process. This essentially means choosing a firm or a company which is staffed with experienced medical typists instead of hiring individuals. Moreover, with the presence of a medical transcription company to cater to your interest on a continuous basis the transcription services would get maximum attention and first priority.

Technical Compatibility
There are many changes occurring in the medical transcription software industry and choosing those who know its intricacies is crucial. The medical transcription provider should have a staff that is internet savvy as well as well-informed about the various types of latest software such as Medical Director, Genie, Blue Chip Billing System, Pracsoft and Promedicus used for transcription and especially the one used by the health care provider or doctor. Moreover, the transcriptionists should also be able to adapt to the system of dictation chosen by the health organization in order to avoid errors.

The Training Methods
The training given to medical typists is unique and extensive so gauging their knowledge by learning about their training methods is necessary. This is important as the medical typist should be aware of the legal and compliance issues which can affect health care providers financially as well as their reputation and future prospects in the health care industry.

About Meddatacarepro.com.au

http://www.meddatacarepro.com.au/company.php

We have been a healthcare service provider since 1999. It is our in-depth knowledge, precision, expertise and transparency that has made us a globally respected healthcare service provider. We are based in multiple locations which gives us the required exposure to handle regulations of all geographies.