Medical Transcription Anywhere

Kavur, Andhra Pradesh

2009-07-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Rightfulness in the face of indifference and arrogance

We live in times where the words "environment" and "meltdown" have taken on a frightening synonymy. We, as a planet, clamor for the two degrees of our rightful coolness in the face of indifference and arrogance at the highest levels and of the highest order. We owe it to all the lives and efforts that have gone into creating this present, to our selves, and to our future to take steps to green minds, to green lives, to create leaders for tomorrow who will not blindly follow the destructive legacies that litter our history books, and to let our children know what a sparrow really looks like.

Full story here

Compensation Survey 2009-2010

2009-06-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

IAMR constituents have shared basic data and operate on the principles of fairness, efficiency, value for all, and equitable and sensible sharing of yields at bandwidths fair to all stakeholders, at all levels.

Most of the Readers of MTAnywhere, or Transdyne or Worldtech internal message-boards, or the forums of mtindia, mtdaily, mtweek and the rest will be familiar with our 2005 survey.

Well. It is time now so that we have 2010 numbers that we can try and get close to and freeze for a period of all-round benefit.

Write in to subhorup+data@gmail.com with "iamr survey 2010" in the subject line to express your inclination to participate. This is open to all units of all sizes, homebased LAN collectives, from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We do know that we will be hearing from Orissa and West Bengal too. We do not get to hear a lot from the rest though we know that they do network up in the north.

And in the same vein for those whose readers suck this up as soon as we hit publish, do keep yourself free on the evening of Monday, June 15, 2009. We know most of you who will have this by then will be there. But do spread the word if you can. OUT-OF-HYDERABAD FRIENDS, PLEASE EMAIL CONTACT DETAILS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STAY ON TOP OF SUCH THINGS. It promises to be a stimulating evening. Details, and the invite for those of you who are not on the IAMR member list, after the jump, the invitation too, from Venkateshwar Rao and Raghu and Ramakrishna and the rest of us too. Hooraah! But First, the routemap.

Hello friends,

While thanking IAMR management for giving Vasavi an opportunity to host its forthcoming meeting I, on my behalf and on behalf of our company, cordially invite you and/or your top management members to make it convenient and participate in the following program:

Date and Time: Monday, the 15th June, 2009 @ 6.30 p.m.

Venue: Our Office, Badeti’s Mansion, 6-3-712/153, Panjagutta Colony, Hyd-500082 (location map attached).

Chief Guest: Prof. (Dr.) B.Ramesh Babu, decades long expert on US Politics & Cultural Studies (Public Affairs) – brief CV attached -, has consented to share his thoughts on "INDIA US RELATIONS SINCE OBAMA: POLITICS & ECONOMICS".

Though Prof. Ramesh Babu is spending active retired life in Hyderabad, he continues to keep himself abreast of his nearly half a century knowledge of the subject. I feel that interaction with him as to past & present US politics & culture (also called public affairs) is likely to make IAMR members appreciate the ongoing US economic/business environment better.

We all have been endeavoring to study, analyse and assess as to future prospects for business from USA. Perhaps, knowing more about the ongoing US culture in the backdrop of its politics places us in the right perspective to move forward. Let us aim at having a participative, lively and useful interactive session with Dr. Ramesh Babu.

Dinner follows the meeting.

Looking forward to receiving you,

P. Venkateswara Rao,
Mg. Dir.,
Vasavi Prosoft Transcription Ltd.
Tel:23404102 & 23406099
RSVP: Naresh - Extn. 30 or Kalpavalli - Extn. 20 or 21

The Tale of the Rubber Checks

2009-02-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

(From an article in Advance, link below)

Joan Edwards (not her real name), like Trudy Schaefer Looney, got into transcription on a whim 14 years ago. "It was sort of by fluke," she said. "I basically trained myself. I started out with a doctor and his wife. It was a brand new practice, and we sort of trained each other."

Edwards worked there for 4 years until the clinic closed due to lack of business. She moved on from there, getting her own accounts and working directly for clinics. Everything in her MT world was fine until she started working for a medical transcription service organization (MTSO) 2 years ago. The warning signs were there. The company said it would get direct deposit for its 120 MTs nationwide. It didn't. The promised health care coverage never showed up. A notice was sent out by the company saying that 10 oncology MTs quit, all in the same day. And MTs were forbidden by the company from contacting each other, even if they worked on the same accounts. Also, a lot of times Edwards and other MTs saw discrepancies in the line counts. They thought they typed more lines than they were paid for, but the only way to prove it would be to purchase the company's own line counting software, which would cost a hefty $300.

Despite the early warning signs that the company might not have been the best, Edwards was always paid on time--at least up until 3 months ago. She walked into the company's bank with a check, and the teller didn't even look at the amount. "She looked at the company name and she just shook her head. I said, 'Why are you shaking your head?' She answered, 'There's insufficient funds,'" Edwards recalled.

Edwards called the owner, who said the money would be in the bank the following morning. He promised the check wouldn't bounce. Edwards ended up $700 overdrawn on her account, and it took 5 days to finally get the money she was owed along with the bank fees for cashing a rubber check.

A couple weeks later, Edwards experienced the same thing. The check would bounce, so she couldn't put it in her account. She called the fraudulent check division in her county, but they provided little help, as she would have to put the check into the account, let it bounce and then prove the owner didn't make things right. "We don't have the option to wait that long, especially single mothers or widows like me," Edwards said. "That's how we feed our children."

Finally, after 3 months of dealing with bad checks, Edwards left the company. She now visits chat sites to let other MTs who ask about the company know that it's bad news. Edwards recently landed a job with another transcription company, but she's wary of the profession now. "I really don't want to get back into the medical transcription profession because of [this company]," she said. "You just don't know what's going to happen."

Edwards admitted she put up with the bounced checks and other problems for too long. She liked the clinic she transcribed for, and was familiar with the doctors. She felt resistant to change, until it became unbearable to stick with the company. The lesson here: don't wait around. If you're experiencing a similar situation, it's not likely that things are going to improve. There are good MT companies out there. Find one and don't be afraid to make the change.

Another lesson out of Edwards' issues is to thoroughly research before starting a job with a company. She checked on chat sites in the MT world before starting work for the company, but didn't find much information. Now Edwards and others who worked for the company peruse message boards to try to help other MTs steer clear. If a transcription company has a bad reputation, chances are that reputation will get out on the Internet, and MTs looking for jobs can use that resource. Another tip is to speak with MTs already working for the company you're thinking of working for. If a company isn't comfortable letting you speak to its MTs, that might be a red flag.

(To read the rest of the Advance story about how MT companies in US are turning out to be questionable employers, click here)

Moving with the times

2008-12-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

From a non-descript village in the coastal area of the State a group of youths who passed Intermediate prepare reports for doctors across the world. Sitting in the calm environs of the village they are revolutionising the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry where the big guns are talking about starting operations in tier-I and tier-II cities to cut costs.

The rural BPO set up by an enterprising entrepreneur Ramakrishna Tummala in Kavur village of Guntur district with a workforce of just 30 people – all drawn from the village -- has not only slashed the costs by nearly 60 per cent but has also fulfilled his ambition of serving his birthplace.

Read the article in The Hindu here.

The Future of Medical Transcription - An Open Forum

2008-10-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

IAMR, the industry body for medical transcription companies, organized a seminar on the Future of Medical Transcription at PGRRCDE Auditorium, Osmania University on Monday, October 6, 2008. The seminar was aimed at providing an open forum to MT professionals to discuss issues of common concern to the industry.

More than 190 MT professionals from seven of the leading companies attended the seminar. The keynote presentation from Raghu Vasu, CEO of Transdyne threw light on recent trends in the healthcare and healthcare documentation industry, emerging technologies, best practices, and highlighted the challenges facing both the business and the professionals and outlined appropriate responses. This was followed by an open forum where a panel of CEOs consisting of Mrs. Vijay Kumar of Vision 2K, Pydah Venkateswar Rao of Vasavi Prosoft, Raghu Vasu of Transdyne and Ramakrishna Tummala of Worldtech answered questions from the participants on a wide range of topics, such as the fluctuating dollar rate, new technologies, how to assess an employer, lack of awareness among the common people regarding MT as a serious career choice, etc.

At a time when downsizing and pink slips are the order of the day, the MT industry is seeing a resurgence with the consolidation and convergence of tried and tested business models resulting in growing business volumes and demand. This increased demand often also results in unwise responses at all levels. With this seminar, CEOs of the leading companies came forward to share their knowledge, expertise and perspectives in an open forum with MT professionals to dispel myths and create a positive understanding.

In view of the tremendous response to this seminar, it was suggested that IAMR could take this seminar to member companies so that all associates can benefit from it.

The morning session was followed by an afternoon of fun and games, conducted by Rajesh of Accentia and Harika of Vasavi Prosoft. The winners of the contests are listed below.

Bindi contest: Sravanti (Accentia)
Kiss the miss: Santosh Kumar (Accentia)
Clips contest: Janardan (Vasavi)
Balloon war: Sultana (Transdyne)
Balloon blowing: Balwant (Accentia) for quality
Ravi (Worldtech) and Safiya (Trandyne) for productivity
Singing: Manjula (Transdyne), Rebecca (Transdyne), Pooja (Worldtech), Yuvraj (Worldtech)

IAMR was formed by all the leading companies in July 2002 under the stewardship of Worldtech, Transdyne, Elico, Vasavi Prosoft, VasantScribe (now Accentia Tech), and CKAR, and nearly 20 other charter members, with the following objectives.

1. Representational. Help member companies take up policy and infrastructure related issues with government agencies and decision making bodies in one voice.
2. Networking. Create opportunities for networking within the industry through events and conferences
3. Educational. Make comprehensive industry-specific information available to members.
4. Promotional. Promote India as preferred MT and Healthcare services destination. Create awareness in media (local and international) regarding MT as a viable career pursuit and India as an attractive offshore MT destination.

IAMR has represented the industry at forums addressing labor laws, infrastructure requirements, provision for better bandwidth and power availability and tariffs, and education.

IAMR meets regularly to share best practices, industry trends, vendor information, etc. It also organizes conferences on subjects of relevance to the industry, both at the managerial and employee level. Some of the events organized by IAMR include seminars on Yoga at the Workplace, Change Management, Strategies for fluctuating forex, Career Destination with AAMT Director, Peter Preziosi, etc.

IAMR has worked through agencies like the Board of Intermediate Education, the AP State Council for Higher Education, Doctus, Osmania University and Nizams College to design and execute MT training modules at the junior college and degree college levels.

More details regarding IAMR can be found at their website iamr.org.in.

Rural BPO initiative in Andhra Pradesh

2008-08-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

With over 500 on-site employees, Worldtech is a success story. Doctus, a company offering a wide range of services such as training, financial services, data entry, claims adjustments and processing. With more than 150 people on its staff at the Hyderabad center, and now with the Kavur operation with a targeted 200 workers within the next one year, Doctus and Worldtech are contributing to reverse the trend of people migrating to the cities, thereby reviving the cultural and economic life-force of the villages.

Read the Full Story Here.

Most common first and last names

2008-07-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

Here is an (two text files below) excellent names database that I found on MTIndia (Amit's pioneering community forum) a long time back. It lists names, with incidence, and with gender. A must have for any MT.

firstnames.txt

lastnames.txt

Intermediate Student Interns with Worldtech

2008-07-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

Worldtech, as part of its ongoing commitment to further the cause of medical transcription training through government institutions, recently concluded a two month internship program for students of the medical transcription program run by the Intermediate Board of Education at St. Josephs Junior College, Cudappah, and Husaini Alam Girls College at Hyderabad. A total of 19 students were given the chance work as interns in a real production unit, an opportunity that no other training program can offer. At the end of the internship, certificates were awarded, and arrangements were made for the successful interns to be given finishing school exposure through a leading training company, so that they could be made ready for placement at various companies.

Word Autocorrect Exporter and Backup

2008-05-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Here is an utility that I used years ago to backup and transport my MSWord autocorrect entries. It was a pleasure to find it still in circulation, and with a new version too, and to know that it still works with current versions of Word. I am sure transcriptionists out there who are not aware of this will find it a handy tool.

See here for the developer site and download link.

Careers in Medical Transcription

2008-04-05T02:33:00.001-07:00

The boom in the Medical Transcription industry has resulted in higher demand for trained MTs. DOCTUS has trained more than 300 MTs in 2007 and projects 600 graduates in 2008. With a fresh batch starting on the first of every month, one has to wait no longer to get started in the program.

Click here for more details.

Acing the Interview

2008-03-17T01:50:00.001-07:00

Here is a slideshow on mastering the interview written with the Medical Transcription industry in mind. Enjoy.

Worldtech: Where Quality Transcription Lives

2008-03-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

Worldtech offers its customers transcription services of the highest quality. The quality process that has evolved over the 10 years of its operations is stringent and demanding. All transcripts go through multiple levels of audit until it is approved for lesser levels of audit. A random sampling is done of all the work during and after the production cycle. This serves both as quality control as well as training and feedback.

Every transcript is graded by the quality control team, following a grading policy created by the quality control team which is based on the guidelines of AAMT (now AHDI). The accuracy of each transcript can be monitored as it goes through the levels of quality audit.

"Our greatest challenge in the initial years was quality of transcription," observes Laxmi Gupta, VP, Quality Control, "and it was only by diligent implementation of our quality control process, which has gone on to become a model for other companies in the offshore transcription business, that we have established a reputation of excellence among our customers."

Siasat Daily Seminar on Medical Transcription

2008-02-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

The leading Urdu newspaper of Hyderabad conducted a career awareness program on Medical Transcription. Leading industry figures, trainers, and medical transcriptionists addressed the large gathering to offer an overview of Medical Transcription as a career destination.

more here

The Art of Wellness

2008-01-22T02:48:00.000-08:00

Become a Doctus Medical Transcriptionist

2007-08-09T00:52:00.000-07:00

DOCTUS, a team of professional trainers, has come together with the
leaders of the MT industry to offer customized and relevant training
in medical transcription. This training is offered independent of
service agreements.

From Doctus Alumni

IAMR trains trainers

2007-08-01T00:37:00.000-07:00

For the first time in the state, the commissionerate of intermediate education, Andhra Pradesh government, and the Indian Association of Medical Records Services (IAMR) have embarked on an initiative to introduce medical transcription as a vocational course in junior colleges.

Towards this direction, the commissionerate and the IAMR had jointly organised a 15-day pilot programme for training government junior college lecturers in the state in medical transcription, which concluded here on July 29.

Twenty seven lecturers – three each from nine government colleges and minority institutions in tier-II towns – have been selected for the all-paid programme with an intention to start a six-month course in their respective colleges.

read more

Proofreading Tips(u)

2007-07-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

The correct attitude for a Medical Transcriptionist should be one of independence and responsibility for his or her work. Medical Transcriptionists function with a minimum of direct supervision. The majority do have an immediate supervisor somewhere responsible for quality control. Working as a professional Medical Transcriptionist means to take pride in the accuracy and completeness of your work. A professional gains satisfaction from a job well done.

Excellent proofreading skills are critical for a Medical Transcriptionist. Proofreading is looking for mistakes of all types in a transcribed document and correcting them. The most common errors a Medical Transcriptionist will be looking for include:

Omission of important dictated words
Selecting the wrong English or medical word
Misspelling words
Typographical errors
Grammatical errors
Punctuation errors

Proofreading skills will improve with practice. You will know what your areas of weaknesses are as you proofread and find your errors. If you find that you miss few medical words, but misspell many English words, you can improve by paying particular interest in English words as you transcribe and proofread dictation.

Consider the following four-step method to help you achieve the best results from your proofreading:

1. Look words up in reference books as you encounter them. Dont wait until the end of the report. You will have forgotten how some of the words sounded. Search until you find and dont go any further in your medical transcribing until you find the words you get stumped on. Leave a blank if you exhaust all resources and still cannot find your word.
2. Briefly proofread what you transcribe as it appears on the screen of your word processor or the paper you are typing on. This will help you catch missed words and typographical errors as they occur. Print out your reports on paper if you are using a word processor. It is easier to proofread the printed report on paper than it is on the screen.
3. If you just cannot find a word, leave a blank of an appropriate length, according to how long or short the word sounds. Attach a flag (a flag is a sheet of paper clipped to the report or a sticky note placed on the report which identifies all blanks, which lines of the report they are located on, and what the dictated word sounded like to you.
4. Use a medical or English spellchecker as the final step in proofreading. Spellcheckers will not catch errors such as transcribing no instead of not or transcribing ilium instead of ileum.

Excellent proofreading skills come only after continual practice to perfect. Consider the following tips:

To avoid omitting important dictated words adjust the speed control on the transcriber unit and transcribe slowly to assure no dictated words are overlooked. Slowly increase your speed of the tape, which will increase transcription speed as you learn to keep up with the dictator.

The tape recording (if you are transcribing from a tape) does not perfectly reproduce the human voice. Sometimes the words and phrases sound garbled or something quite different from what they really are. A Medical Transcriptionist should never transcribe what he or she thinks they hear. You should transcribe only what makes sense in the context of the report. Careful word searching and careful attention to word definitions help the Medical Transcriptionist to avoid selecting the wrong English or medical word. The wrong medical word can convey a wrong diagnosis for a patient. The error can be carried in the patients permanent medical record and cause extreme havoc and chaos. The professional Medical Transcriptionist NEVER transcribes anything that does not make sense and/or cannot be verified in a reference book. In other words, dont just make up a word either just to fill in all the blanks. It is better to leave a blank.

Misspelling of medical and English words can be avoided by careful proofreading and using a spellchecker.

Typographical errors are usually the result of carelessness or attempts to type too fast rather than focusing on accuracy. Careful proofreading will eliminate typographical errors.

Grammatical errors are hard to catch while transcribing and must be identified through careful proofreading.

Punctuation errors can actually change the medical meaning of a sentence. Keep your punctuation references within easy reach.

(from Career Advice by Randy)

IAMR efforts to bring Kolkata industry together

2007-07-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

from the latest mtindia newsletter

Ramakrishna Tummala, President IAMR and MD Worldtech will be
meeting with industry majors at Kolkata on Sunday, June 24. He
will be in Kolkata along with his team to commemorate the 1st
anniversary of the Worldtech Center of Excellence. Mr. Tummala has
been a pioneer in the efforts to get the Indian MT industry to grow
in dialog. He formalized his efforts with the industry in
Hyderabad at a meeting in July 2002 where Dr. Amit Chatterjee, SM
of MTIndia came and shared his understanding of the need for such a
forum at local, national and international levels. IAMR was formed
with 20 leading companies. Raghu Vasu of Transdyne, Ravi Chandran
and Srinivas Manne of ElicoBPO, Subhorup Dasgupta of Worldtech,
Venkateswar Rao of Vasavi Prosoft, along with the principals of
VasantScribe, CKAR, and other leaders took IAMR forward to become
an effective and formal networking platform for the industry.

IAMR activities have included training in HIPAA compliance, career
destination seminars by Peter Preziosi, AAMT, sharing best HR
practices, sharing best training practices, evolving uniform
recruitment and recognition systems, sharing vendor data and other
relevant data, sharing technology, workshops on yoga, art of
living, personality development and ergonomics, workshops for
senior and middle management, cultural events & sports events,
seminar on hedging foreign exchange risk by Nagesh Pydah of Bank of
India.

In a telephonic interview, Mr. Ramakrishna said that the two
challenges that the Indian MT Industry faces is lack of uniform
standards and availability of trained manpower.

"The danger of poor or erratic quality of service provided is one
that would adversely affect the whole industry, most so the leading
players who invest heavily in implementation of quality policies
and processes. The industry has only recently been able to shake
off its image as a low cost but high risk (in terms of accuracy of
transcripts and security of data) offshoring destination and we
need to do all we can to prevent the India MT brand from being
tarnished." he said.

"Uniform training, certification and compensation coupled with good
HR practices are keys to successful retention. The two words every
CEO dreads are attrition and poaching. The only way out is to
increase the quality of entry level MTs and to invest in training
and retraining. In the context of a 40-rupee dollar,
non-sustainable costs need to be addressed urgently in order for
all
of us to survive and profit. Career aspirations and earnings need
to be judiciously matched to create a win-win situation for the
business as well as the workers."

for more go to http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MTIndia/message/207

First Anniversary of Worldtech Kolkata

2007-07-04T05:29:00.000-07:00

Worldtech Center of Excellence First Anniversary June 24, 2007

TV9 show on Medical Transcription

2007-06-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

A feature on Telugu Satellite TV (TV9) on Medical Transcription featuring Indian MTs and MTSOs.

India Adopting Certification Standards for Transcription

2006-06-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, India is now performing testing in partnership with Thomson Prometric for the RMT and CMT certifications.

In what would be one of the first instances of adoption of global certification standards for training by the BPO industry in India, American Association of Medical Transcription (AAMT) and American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), are together launching two certification exams — the Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) and the Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) here.

BPO boys may have to attend classes - Indiatimes Infotech

Philippines Catching up with India?

2006-05-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

Michael Russell recently wrote about how the Philippines is catching up with India in a lot of the business process outsourcing (BPO) happening today.

While the Philippines may not be as a huge an offshore provider of web and software services as India, it holds great promise in the customer service industry. Although India does charge lower than the Philippinesfor data encoding work, India charges around $4 (U.S.) versus $10 in the Philippinesmore multinationals are choosing the Philippines because of the high quality of work. Moreover, Filipinos make good customer service agents not only because they are fluent in American English but also because of their helpful and friendly nature.

Transcription Guide : Philippines Catching up with India in the Outsourcing Industry

Spheris Receives Top Award for Medical Transcription at 2006 TEPR

2006-05-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

From the article at Yahoo News:

Spheris this week received 'first honors' in the medical transcription category at the 2006 Towards the Electronic Patient Record (TEPR) Awards. The awards were announced May 22 at the TEPR Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. Nearly 200 healthcare companies from the United States and Canada exhibit at the conference every year.

Spheris Receives Top Award for Medical Transcription at 2006 TEPR Convention: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

MTSOs on the rise?

2006-05-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

According to Arun Jethmalani, CEO of ValueNotes, the medical transcription outsourcing industry is once again on the rise after a slump in 2000.

As per the Report “The US Medical Transcription Industry: Perspective on Outsourcing and Offshoring” the latest release by ValueNotes, medical transcription offshoring from India currently generates US$195 million in revenues; and is expected to reach US$647 million by 2010.

Silent Revival: Medical Transcription Back into The Ramp-up Game

View from India (Part II)

2006-05-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

The MT Industry in India has come of age and is now ready for growth. It currently employs around 20-30,000 people. The size of the business generated by the MT industry annually in India is estimated at $250 million that is a fraction of the global MT industry's business volume of $12 billion. In India, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi are prominent centres for the MT industry but now the business is seen shifting to smaller cities too

MT Industry in India Poised for Growth