Outsourcing of medical transcription
Due to the increasing demand to document medical records, other countries started to outsource the services of the medical transcriptionist. In the United States, the medical transcription business is estimated to be worth US $10 to $25 billion annually and growing 15 percent each year[citation needed]. The main reason for outsourcing is stated to be the cost advantage due to cheap labor in developing countries, and their currency rates as compared to the U.S. dollar.
It is a volatile controversy on whether work should be outsourced, mainly due to three reasons:
The greater majority of MTs presently work from home offices rather than actually IN Hospitals, working off-site for "National" Transcription services. It is predominantly those Nationals located in the United States who are striving to outsource work to other-than-US-based transcriptionists. In outsourcing work to sometimes lesser-qualified and lower-paid non-US MTs, the Nationals unfortunately can force US transcriptionists to accept lower rates, at risk of losing business altogether to the cheaper outsourcing providers. In addition to the low line rates forced on US transcriptionists, US MTs are often paid as ICs (Independent Contractors); thus, the Nationals save on employee insurance and benefits offered, etc. Unfortunately for the state of healthcare administrative costs in the United States, in outsourcing, the Nationals still charge the hospitals the same rate as they did in the past for highly qualified US transcriptionists, but subcontract the work to non-US MTs, keeping the difference as profit.
There are concerns about patient privacy, with confidential reports going from the country where the patient is located (the US) to a country where the laws about privacy and patient confidentiality may not even exist. Some of the countries that now outsource transcription work are the United States, Britain, and Australia, with work outsourced to Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Canada.
The lack of quality in the finished document is concerning. Many outsourced Transcriptionists simply do not have the requisite basic education to do the job with reasonable accuracy, much less additional, occupation-specific training in Medical Transcription. Many foreign MTs who can speak English are unfamiliar with American expressions and/or the slang doctors often use, are apparently unfamiliar with medical reference books, and are unfamiliar with American names and places. An MT Editor, certainly, is then responsible for all work transcribed from these countries and under these conditions. These outsourced transcriptionists often work for a fraction of what transcriptionists are paid in the United States, even with the US MTs daily accepting lower and lower rates.
The Philippines has recently attracted increased amounts of MT outsourcing from the United States. Due to high literacy in the English language (spoken as a second language and also used in business, education, and government), the Philippines is trying to position itself to become a world leader in this field. Historic connections with the US ensure that the average Filipino is perhaps capable of understanding idioms and slang used in Colloquialism, making them one of the few peoples outside the US to possibly be able to transcribe accurately. This is very concerning to the US MTs. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) governs outsourcing of MT work. Stricter policies in compliance with [HIPAA] are implemented in such companies to enable security and confidentiality of work involved in such practices.AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity) is one of the world’s largest association for medical transcription. AHDI's mission is to lead the evolution of medical transcription, represent and advance the profession and its practitioners. AHDI has a summary of rules in medical transcription that guide companies in facilitating seamless and workable transcription processes.
Due to the increasing demand to document medical records, other countries started to outsource the services of the medical transcriptionist. In the United States, the medical transcription business is estimated to be worth US $10 to $25 billion annually and growing 15 percent each year[citation needed]. The main reason for outsourcing is stated to be the cost advantage due to cheap labor in developing countries, and their currency rates as compared to the U.S. dollar.
It is a volatile controversy on whether work should be outsourced, mainly due to three reasons:
The greater majority of MTs presently work from home offices rather than actually IN Hospitals, working off-site for "National" Transcription services. It is predominantly those Nationals located in the United States who are striving to outsource work to other-than-US-based transcriptionists. In outsourcing work to sometimes lesser-qualified and lower-paid non-US MTs, the Nationals unfortunately can force US transcriptionists to accept lower rates, at risk of losing business altogether to the cheaper outsourcing providers. In addition to the low line rates forced on US transcriptionists, US MTs are often paid as ICs (Independent Contractors); thus, the Nationals save on employee insurance and benefits offered, etc. Unfortunately for the state of healthcare administrative costs in the United States, in outsourcing, the Nationals still charge the hospitals the same rate as they did in the past for highly qualified US transcriptionists, but subcontract the work to non-US MTs, keeping the difference as profit.
There are concerns about patient privacy, with confidential reports going from the country where the patient is located (the US) to a country where the laws about privacy and patient confidentiality may not even exist. Some of the countries that now outsource transcription work are the United States, Britain, and Australia, with work outsourced to Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Canada.
The lack of quality in the finished document is concerning. Many outsourced Transcriptionists simply do not have the requisite basic education to do the job with reasonable accuracy, much less additional, occupation-specific training in Medical Transcription. Many foreign MTs who can speak English are unfamiliar with American expressions and/or the slang doctors often use, are apparently unfamiliar with medical reference books, and are unfamiliar with American names and places. An MT Editor, certainly, is then responsible for all work transcribed from these countries and under these conditions. These outsourced transcriptionists often work for a fraction of what transcriptionists are paid in the United States, even with the US MTs daily accepting lower and lower rates.
The Philippines has recently attracted increased amounts of MT outsourcing from the United States. Due to high literacy in the English language (spoken as a second language and also used in business, education, and government), the Philippines is trying to position itself to become a world leader in this field. Historic connections with the US ensure that the average Filipino is perhaps capable of understanding idioms and slang used in Colloquialism, making them one of the few peoples outside the US to possibly be able to transcribe accurately. This is very concerning to the US MTs. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) governs outsourcing of MT work. Stricter policies in compliance with [HIPAA] are implemented in such companies to enable security and confidentiality of work involved in such practices.AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity) is one of the world’s largest association for medical transcription. AHDI's mission is to lead the evolution of medical transcription, represent and advance the profession and its practitioners. AHDI has a summary of rules in medical transcription that guide companies in facilitating seamless and workable transcription processes.
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