Integration: Medical Transcription's New Horizon

By David J. Stott

 

Today's transcription landscape is undergoing a facelift. Being swept aside is the tape based analog dictation and the in-house Medical Transcriptionist (MT). Moving in is the home-based Medical Transcriptionist (MT) working on digital files transferred securely via the Internet. Medical transcription as an out-source business model is coming to fruition and becoming the mainstay of many institutions to reduce transcription costs. Medical Transcription Service Organizations (MTSO) large and small, to the independent MT, have

gown rapidly over the past two decades. While this seems like a perfect solution to maximizing revenue per square foot in the office, a new wrinkle has emerged.

 

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) implementation is gaining momentum, spurred on by the Executive Order given by the Bush Administration in the year 2004. The Executive Order called for full compliance in moving to Electronic Medical Records (EMR). President Bush set the goal of having most Americans having access to Electronic Health Records (EHR) by the year 2014. This correlates to medical systems implementing and maintaining a form of EMR for their facility sooner rather than later.

 

The Executive Order further encourages an adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT) Standards for the rapid exchange of health information. The demand for IT services to improve healthcare is an important step in improving overall patient care. Now, how does the recent government actions affect the small to medium MTSO and the independent MT's?

 

Integrate

With Executive Order given, the healthcare industry is responding by making system-to-system collaboration of health information easier with the adoption of a single communication standard. Health Level Seven or HL7 was adopted for secure transmission of health information and patient records. The negative is HL7 can be very costly to implement with significant IT resources needed. Large MTSO's have invested in IT staff,

and moved forward into this market earlier in the decade. However, the question is where do the small to medium MTSO and the independent MT to turn to continue to provide cost-effective services, while making the leap of integrating HL7 into their business model?

Integration:

 

Industry Tools

Companies are starting to invest heavily in the market to assist independent MT's and MTSO's integrate HL7 technologies into their transcription services. MediGrafix is one of those companies that has invested in technologies architecture and infrastructure to create a out-source transcription platform that can be used as an ASP Hosted service by clinics, MTSO's and independent MT's. This will allow the individual MT, clinic or MTSO to brand the site with their information. The system assists them to track, organize, print, and fax on-demand. They are able to create medical records with a HIPAA compliant electronic signature and audit trail in a secure online environment. Voice capture can be by digital hand held recorder, digital phone system, speech microphone, PDA or Tablet PC. Add into that powerful set of tools, the integration of HL7 services, and you now have a platform that is cost effective and allows for the independent MT to compete directly with the largest MTSO's.

 

MediGrafix developed the transcription centric EHR for its own clients to provide a more robust means to handle out-source transcription services. In doing so, they gained valuable insight to the needs and demands from a clinician and MT perspective. A wealth of IT knowledge and a 21-year history as a MTSO has driven the development of MediGrafix's Integration Services and EHR. Out of which was born the hosted ASP model of MediGrafix's platform and services. Realizing there was a huge gap in technology and service of this type in the industry, MediGrafix has begun to market this approach to clinics, MTSO's and independent MT's. They approach each client as a unique entity, with each having its own software topography that must be carefully mapped and integrated to function efficiently.

 

Integration: Key to Industry Health

MediGrafix has moved forward to add Integration Services and EHR Services to their current Transcription Services business model. Clinics and hospitals can easily integrate transcription services and EHR services to their existing practice management systems with a quicker ROI. The medical industry as a whole has been lacking in products that integrate systems and services to other systems. Software giants have made practice management software and EMR's proprietary. Locking the hospital and clinician into little or no customization opportunities and stagnating systems evolution. However, with the adoption of HL7, the focus is now on intersystem communication. Software that does not support HL7 is quickly becoming out dated and replaced with newer, scalable software choices.

 

Transcription and Beyond

There is no doubt that emergence of Integration Services to the transcription industry is key to long-term growth. A recent study shows that the current business model of paper charts is costly and inefficient. The average cost to pull a chart for an office visit will run the clinic 5 - 7 dollars. Take that times the number of patients seen in a day and the cost quickly adds up, however, the expense does not stop there. You lose valuable office space that could be used to generate revenue. Adding to that cost of charting errors due to poor habits and indecipherable handwriting and you can immediately see the need for electronic records.

 

The industry has a vast opportunity for growth. Less than 25% of clinicians use or have available EMR resources. Less than 11% have ability to use ePrescribing. Yet approximately 60% of clinicians are planning to implement these services in 2-5 years. This is just the cusp of the electronic record age, and with the tide changing to EMR and EHR solutions, the transcription industry must react accordingly. Most companies will not have the IT expertise or financial ability to take on such an endeavor, but with the help of pioneers in the industry such as MediGrafix, they now have that option.

 

Outlook

As we move into the age of electronic records, we face daunting tasks to get older proprietary systems to communicate. Clinics tied to paper charts see inefficiencies chipping away profits and smaller MTSO's and independent MT's looking for ways to compete in the new frontier. Integration Services is key to addressing these inadequacies. With companies like MediGrafix spearheading the initiative to push forward Integration Services, EHR / EMR's and Transcriptions services, the outlook for the age of Electronic Health Records is bright with promise.