EMR Software Offering Transcription Services

A great benefit that substantial EMR software can offer is integrated medical transcription software – and the associated cost savings it will bring. Many doctors in solo or small practices spend a lot of time and money on (a) writing their notes on paper charts for patients and (b) on a medical transcription service or using a dedicated person to get those notes into a decent format and on disk. Letters have to be sent to the patient and to other doctors for referrals, and to insurance companies. Poor medical transcription, of the lack of efficient medical transcription, can cost a medical practice a lot of money for a number of reasons:

1. Medical notes and correspondence are the face and the front desk of the medical practice to patients, other doctors, insurance companies, and government agencies overseeing Medicare and Medicaid. A poor and inaccurate job on notes and correspondence will mean slow turnaround in claims processing as well. The inability to quickly access patient notes will also cut into a practice’s ability to counter claims denials. Sometimes an insurance company will audit a doctor’s claims and call his decisions into questions. Medical transcription software linked to a good EMR can save the day in such situations.
2. Medical practice management software / EMRs can shave a salary – or half a salary — off your expenses by automating your transcription. If you have an in-house person spending much of his time on your notes, good medical software will free him to work on other practice management functions.
3. In addition, paper correspondence calls for lots of square footage to house those charts and letters. Renting space is expensive, and not needing to pay for the extra storage space can be a significant savings as well.

Many EMR packages contain excellent medical transcription software, or allow interoperability with well- known medical transcription packages. If you already have good transcription software and do not want to lose it when you purchase an EMR, talk to the EMR vendors about interoperability. If the medical transcription software and / or medical billing software you are using are supported by reputable vendors, there is a good chance it can be integrated with your new EMR system.

Here are some valuable features to look for in medical transcription software:

• Speech and voice and speech recognition software has been used for medical transcription for many years. This can save literally hundreds of hours of work per year for a doctors office. After a little practice, turnaround time for medical dictation is almost instantaneous.
• Good medical transcription software usually comes with a medical dictionary and spell checker, to save time for accuracy checks
• Many software utilities that come with medical transcription software are HIPAA compliant, and are thus suitable for using to send files to other computers and to insurance companies.
• Electronic signature software allows for signatures and audit trails for those signatures. Pulling files for signatures becomes a trivial matter with signature software and electronic notes to post them on.
• Time and date stamps for notes and letters make for good audit trails, reporting, and HIPAA compliance.
• Management reports to handles the status of medical correspondence. Monthly reports, status of dictated files, etc.
• HIPAA compliance for notes, which means encryption features and backup and security procedures are in place.
• Interoperability with handheld electronic devices such as PDAs, as well as laptops and notebooks
• Electronic attachment of transcribed reports to a patient’s Health Record
• Searchability of all documents: letters, notes, and prescription records
• Predefined templates for letters, prescriptions, and other correspondence make for major time saving

If you are about to buy medical software, make sure you invest in an EMR that has good transcription software or supports the use of good transcription packages. Read the reviews, talk to other users, and have a vendor demonstrate the software along with a prepared list of questions to ask. And be sure to try it yourself before you buy. Good medical transcription software can make a real difference in the bottom line for your practice..

Article Source : http://www.medicalsoftwareguides.com/2009/09/emr-software-offering-transcription-services/