Outsourcing medical transcription tasks is now an ideal option for healthcare professionals, because it reduces the burden on documentation and allows them to better focus on treating patients. An important solution for outsourcing that needs to be taken is whether to cooperate with an offshore company or with a coastal medical transcription company. These services are available in both the USA and offshore regions. In the American service you will have a transcriptionist in America documenting your dictation. If the service is located in an offshore zone, the transcriptionist who does your work will work from outside the United States, such as India and the Philippines.
To make the right decision based on your transcription needs, it is important to have a clear idea of the pros and cons of both US and offshore services.
US-based medical transcription services against offshore
- Compliance with HIPAA requirements: Physicians should strictly adhere to the HIPAA rules when processing patient data. That is why they should only transfer their transcriptions to a HIPAA-compliant medical transcription company. Physicians should ensure that their service provider can maintain the confidentiality of medical information and what measures have been taken to ensure the security of electronic data. Regardless of whether the company is in the US or offshore, the following points should be considered before deciding to outsource:
- does the seller have a safe working environment with password-protected computers and servers
- will transcriptionists and staff be trained in HIPAA compliance?
- are there audit logs to ensure that data is loaded / downloaded and processed only by authorized personnel
- the data according to the hospital indicated is destroyed after use.
when the service provider has secure, encrypted file transfer modes
- Does the seller have home transcriptionists and are there any measures to protect these home workstations?
The obligation of the healthcare provider to ensure the confidentiality and security of information is more difficult if the transcription company is not located within the United States. In fact, it is easier for the doctor to check whether these measures are in place when using the medical transcription service in the United States.
- Tat: The advantage of time zones in offshore companies. For example, India is several hours ahead of the United States. Thus, a trip to India will result in the completion of the transcription during the specified processing period, which can be from 24 hours to 4-12 hours for the STAT report. Offshore companies offer round-the-clock service and can provide individual transfer services. This saves the healthcare provider a lot of useful time. There is a possibility that production may be affected because offshore professionals work when there is night time and daytime support from the US can be a problem if it is an offshore company with offices in the USA
- Language: Offshore transcriptionists may have problems with foreign accents, slang, certain expressions and pronunciation. This can lead to loss of valuable time, as well as accuracy of reports. There are no communication barriers with native speakers of English that will improve the quality and accuracy of documentation.
- Well educated and experienced workforce: Due to the large resource of young, college-educated, English literate and productive workers in India and the Philippines, transcription is more efficient and easier when sent to sea.
- Professionally trained transcriptionists: In many offshore countries, transcriptionists are trained to provide services to physicians in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries.
- Internet speed: Internet speed varies depending on the location of the office - a remote area, village or metro cities. This can affect performance if the company does not have offices in the United States.
- Cost: Lower cost is a major advantage when it comes to offshore medical transcription. Labor and operating costs are low when processing an offshore business, which allows service providers to provide doctors with transcription at affordable prices. Reliable companies can save from 30 to 50% with their offshore services. Services in the United States are more expensive because salaries and infrastructure and operating costs are higher, which leads to higher transcription rates.
- Increased labor: Since the transcription offshore medical profession is profitable in India and the Philippines, there is a lot of turnover in the work force, although this has significantly reduced the past
American and offshore medical transcription services have their advantages and disadvantages. In the United States, medical transcription companies have been established with offshore as well as coastal services in accordance with the needs of a physician. There will be price implications, but with an established HIPAA compliant service provider, you can be assured of accuracy, security, timeliness, and efficiency — regardless of whether you choose offshore or on land.
