EHR and Speech Recognition for Data-driven Initiatives - What is the Role of Medical Transcriptionis

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EHR and Speech Recognition for Datadriven Initiatives - What is the Role of Medical Transcriptionists?

The increasing adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and speech recognition technologies have permanently changed the industry’s approach towards the performance of core measures such as value-based purchasing (VBP), accountable care and other data-driven healthcare initiatives. EHRs can parse data by interfacing directly with medical transcription platforms, and this has spurred the adoption of dictation software with advanced speech understanding capability to improve the efficiency in data transfer. With this software, users can create interfaces with fields of data instead of creating flat

files

that

need

to

be

manually

manipulated.

Even

with

these

technologies, the role of medical transcriptionists is very crucial.

Speech recognition software is being increasingly adopted in response to data-driven

initiatives,

and

clinical

dictation

has

transformed

from

comprehensive and structured narrative reports to encoded clinical data. This clinical data can be put into a template for creating a transcribed report or into data fields in order to map into a complete patient record that can be analyzed and exported quickly so as to ensure more accurate and compliant

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1-800-670-2809

www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com

reporting. For example, it is possible to integrate admission, discharge, transfer (ADT) feeds and clinical dictation between systems so as to eliminate the need for manual transcription. Demographic information of the patient can be systematically merged with this for editing so that it is possible to speed up the timeframe in which the required documentation is distributed and made available for use at the point of care.

Changing Role of Transcriptionists With data-centric initiatives utilizing EHR and speech recognition, there is no need for medical transcriptionists to edit templates, create flat files/static information snapshots or manually merge data files. They are expected to create discrete data fields and edit them for medical accuracy. Precisely, VBP and other data-driven initiatives coupled with EHR and speech recognition has transformed the role of transcriptionists to that of editors. So, what’s the relevance of having such an editor in data-driven initiatives? Here are the reasons. 

The foundation of successful participation in data-driven initiatives is the accurate capture of comprehensive patient data. By editing for medical accuracy, transcriptionists significantly reduce the front-end data integrity burden.



Even with the best speech recognition software, there may be errors in dictated data due to the noisy environment, difference in the dictator’s voice due to cold or any other difficulty and other issues. As an editor, a transcriptionist ensures the accuracy of dictated data before it is entered into the patient record and disseminated throughout the system. This will ensure frontline clinicians have the right information to make better care decisions and key process improvement to enhance core measures performance.

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1-800-670-2809

www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com



The usefulness of the dictated information and the ability to direct key data elements within the EHR affect the compliance with the requirements

of

data-driven

initiatives.

The

ability

of

the

transcriptionist to focus on the accuracy of the dictated information is therefore crucial for both short-term and long-term. In the former case,

the

quick

availability

of

accurate

and

complete

patient

information at the point of care enhances the clinical decision making and hence the care quality and outcomes, which will surely impact core measures performance. In the latter case, it is possible to extract the data locked earlier within static documents for complying with reporting requirements.

Why Outsourcing Is a Better Option Many hospitals find the conventional approach of employing full-time transcriptionists unsustainable,

or

re-deploying

cumbersome

and

resources expensive.

from The

their

other

major

functions

reasons

why

outsourcing transcription work is a more prudent choice are as follows. 

If the internal staffs fail to comply with constantly changing data definitions and regulations, it can cause negative financial impacts, especially when transcription quality impacts VBP and core measures significantly. Healthcare facilities will need to recruit qualified and credentialed staffs, provide constant in-house training and take extra measures for their retention, which is quite difficult and expensive.



In-house transcription and core measures management increases overhead expenses for things such as office space and compensation packages. Apart from that, internal management requires a significant capital investment into dictation as well as transcription. This also requires IT resources for implementation, troubleshooting and ongoing

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1-800-670-2809

www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com

maintenance. On the other hand, outsourcing brings significant cost savings as the providers need not spend money on these things. 

Resources

associated

with

in-house

transcription

will

raise

the

administrative burden. With outsourcing, experts will handle the patient

documentation,

data

collection

and

integrity

while

the

hospital’s resources can focus on expanding patient services and improving the quality of care, safety and outcomes. Experienced vendors are able to identify the problem areas that might be overlooked as they are viewing the data from an outside perspective.

When considering the drawbacks, many facilities are concerned about the loss of control over transcription quality and turnaround times when outsourcing to third party services. This concern can be eliminated by partnering with a reputable transcription company that has an excellent track record, and provides the service of qualified, experienced and credentialed transcriptionists and a quality assurance team that guarantees superior quality transcripts.

CALL US

1-800-670-2809