Turnaround time

The standard transcription service offers 24- to 48-hour turnaround. Most will also offer STAT service, which provides one-, two-, or four-hour turnaround at an additional cost. Beyond the basic level of service, there are a few questions to consider about turnaround times:

• How does time of day impact the delivery schedule? If you submit notes at 6 or 7 pm for STAT transcription, for example, will they get the immediate attention they need? Or will they be queued up for the following morning?
• How do they back up their promised turnaround times? If they return transcriptions late, do they offer a discount or waive charges?
• Do different types of notes have different turnaround times?

Accuracy

Inaccurate transcriptions are worse than no transcriptions at all: serious mistakes can endanger your patients’ well-being. The medical transcription services you choose should employ certified medical transcriptionists (MTs) with significant experience, as well as quality assurance (QA) staffers to double check transcripts before they’re released. Ask how many QAs each service has on staff, as well as how many will review each of your transcripts.

The services’ accuracy claims are all well and good, but the proof is in the results. Your doctors have to review and accept each transcript as it’s delivered. You’ll occasionally find “inaudible” in places, which is to be expected and can usually be easily fixed. However, if they find an ongoing pattern of errors, it’s probably time to switch to a different transcription service.

Security

Medical transcription services are subject to HIPAA rules about patient confidentiality the same way your office is. For web-based communication, the industry standard for security is 128-bit SSL security. You don’t need to learn the technical details, but you do need to make sure any web page that you use to transfer patient data uses SSL. They’re easily identified by the “https” prefix in your browser’s address bar and the lock icon in the lower right corner of your browser. If the provider uses another communication method , ask what steps they take to make sure it’s secure.

Physical security at the service is important as well. Ask each potential provider what measures they take to ensure the security of your data at their locations: careful employee screening and tracking is essential.

Another important aspect of security is audit trails. Audit trails keep track of each person who accesses a given set of notes and what modifications they make. They’re invaluable in tracking problems if any do occur.

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