My experience with Acroseas

Of all the companies to whom we doctors have outsourced medical transcriptions to, I found an Indian based company called Acroseas as the best. And my article will tell you why.

Acroseas is a leading healthcare business process outsourcing company based inIndia. They are primarily focused on providing reliable and really accurate medical billing and coding services. Acroseas’s success with medical billing outsourcing services has made many doctors and people abroad change their views about the Asian companies being fraudulent.

Acroseas has made a mark for itself as a leading medical billing outsourcing company in the world. My very own personal experience was pretty good enough for me to write about them and thank them for everything that they have done for me.

They are quite professional to handle all your medical billing and coding requirements. Most important of all, they have this team of experts under their wing. They offer a progressive and comprehensive suite of medical billing and coding outsourcing services such as medical billing and collections, coding, insurance verifications and authorizations and insurance verifications and more.

Indeed they are the best and very good people to work with. I’d surely recommend them.

How to dictate Operative Reports?

The quality of transcripts transcribed by medical transcriptionist is dependent on how the medical records are dictated by physicians.

There are multiple parts of operative reports and it should be dictated in the following order

1. Always dictate Patient’s Name (first and last) in the beginning of report. And if its spelled out ensures no mistake.

2. Second most important information is the Patient’s HUN # (Medical Record Number)

3. And then followed by Date of Admission and Date of Procedure

4. Its always good to dictate Primary Physician/Surgeon to avoid any ambiguity

5. Assistant(s) if any

6. Description of Findings

7. Preoperative Diagnosis

8. Postoperative Diagnosis

9. Anesthesia (Not required, but strongly recommended)

10. Description of Procedure(s)

11. Specimen(s) removed

How much money can you make with home based medical transcription?

Home based medical transcriptionis one of the most popular and fastest growing choices for a home business. Its Because it's easy to learn if you don't have experience, start up costs are very low, and you can make as much money as you want to make.

The important factor for a success of home based transcription is motivation. As you are your own boss and have to work without supervision.

How much money can you make with home based medical transcription?

This varies, depending on whether you want to work part time or full time. If you can type at a comfortable rate of speed, you can easily earn $25 per hour and more. If you can obtain enough business and hire others to work for you, it's easy to make up to $100,000 per year!

The basic skills you need to start this type of business are good typing and spelling skills. You don't need to type 100 words per minute to be successful in a home based medical transcription business - 40 or 50 is all you need.

A few other perks of having your own business: Flexible hours, no commute expenses like gas, reduced daycare expenses if you can keep your little ones at home. Wouldn't it be nice to work the hours you want? Work in the morning or evening, whenever YOU choose. Be your own boss!
Even if you know nothing about medical transcription, there are many online courses and guides that can take you step by step through everything you need to be successful. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars going to school in order to learn this highly popular occupation.

Home Transcription and Work-Life balance

Many medical transcriptionist are de-prioritising achieving a work-life balance in today's work culture of high pressure and competitiveness.

According to a recent US study for the Center for Work-Life Policy, of the 1.7 million respondents who agreed they suffered from excessive work hours and job stress, a whopping 64 per cent admitted it was "self-inflicted", and was taking a toll on their lives. Eighty-one per cent of the respondents said work was adversely affecting their health while 46 per cent felt it was affecting their interpersonal relationships. 

While doing medical transcription work from home allows you to stay at home while letting someone else remain in control of the business aspects, if you are uncomfortable with it.

There is no rule as such for what a proper work-life balance is. Your personal circumstances, whether you are in your late 30s, married with children and living with inlaws or a swinging single, fresh out of university, determine your priorities. The bottom line is simply to invest some quality time for yourself, to allow yourself the chance to 'stop and smell the roses' rather than letting work and strain overcome you.

Home Medical Transcription - Boon for house wives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Home transcription, the latest incarnation of it-enabled services, is arriving at your doorstep, all set to mesmerise a large number of housewives among others in the country. 

MTHomeMD a home based medical transcription company in India and US, employs a team of over 250 home transcriptionists (hbts) across India and has plans recruit 800 more during this year. Tipped to be the next big thing in the job market here, home transcription, essentially home-based medical transcription, which is hugely popular in the us and accounts for almost 90 per cent of the industry, offers a lucrative job prospect to those who can follow American English with an exposure to medical terms. Primarily targeted at qualified housewives, a home transcriptionist (hbt) can earn up to Rs 10,000 per month, with the comfort and convenience of working from home, coupled with flexible schedule, tailor-made to suit individual needs. 

By adopting the home-based model, which has been tested and tried successfully in the us, companies are trying to eliminate the facility costs. Besides this, it widens the scope to tap the qualified people.

“it's a pleasurable job that i am doing. after my children leave, i work till lunch time everyday,'' says Jhuma Guha, 39-year-old housewife with two children.

How to choose a Medical Transcription course

Medical Transcription is an industry that is exploding. It is prestigious and in demand. An individual who performs medical transcription is known as a medical transcriptionist (MT) or a medical transcriber. A medical transcriptionist is the person responsible for converting the patient's medical records into typewritten format rather than handwritten.

In the course of my research, the first thing I learned was that you can't just jump into a career as an MT without training. Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, laboratory, medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. Thus, the medical transcriptionist must be well versed in the language of medicine. Some qualities of a successful MT's are:
· Independent by nature.
· Word Specialist.
· Perfectionist.
· Detail oriented.
· Training options.

Transcription is one of those jobs that many people know can be done from home, and so the interest level is very high. Unfortunately, there are many companies out there trying to capitalize on that interest. The results are over-priced and sub-standard courses.

When you take the time to research the skills that a quality MT needs, it will become evident that a shorter or less comprehensive course of study is not going to give you what you need to succeed in the workplace. Many prospective students who look into very inexpensive fast programs buy into the idea that they can learn medical transcription quickly and then begin making good money right away, but as I think a MT course should offer a prospective MT student is an in-depth, comprehensive program of study including extensive study in every and all subject areas relating to advanced medical transcription and not just the basics.

As an MT student, you are going to have countless questions pertaining to your coursework and a good course needs to provide you with someone who can answer those questions quickly and comprehensively. It is important to know what you are doing wrong and why and what you are doing right. In the workplace an MT needs to work with a high percent of accuracy at between 98-99%. When MTs fall below that accuracy level, they are putting their jobs in risk. In a program, a MT should get immediate feedback on-line after each lesson. In other words, you will have the support of a trained instructor throughout the entire program, and this is imperative for your success.

MT course should offer extensive transcription practice. It is my experience that practice makes perfect. Working MTs come across a variety of difficult accents and medical specialties and without enough practice with real world dictation, the new MT could struggle in the real work environment.

MT course should offer a great deal of real world dictation practice by real doctors. The dictation you will be transcribing comes from a variety of specialties and includes very difficult dictators. It is important to get enough practice while in school so that when you graduate, you will be able to handle the most difficult types of dictation.

Home medical transcription – Redefining flexi-timing.

Flexi-timing is no longer limited to working mothers. Today, more and more professionals are being given the option to work out of home. Software
engineers are already coding from the comfort of their living rooms. Multinationals like IBM and Accenture are also offering their employees the benefits of coming to work only on a few days.

Medical transcription is not new for Indian companies to tie up with hospitals and private physicians in the USA and UK. The idea of earning while working from home so enthralled 32-year-old homeopathy doctor Ravinder Jain that he gave up her modest practice altogether.

Editing transcribed medical notes dictated by doctors in the US allows her to make Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per month. To do transcription at home you would need suitable software installed in your home computer and foot pedal.

While people with a science or medical background and a good command over English appear to score over other applicants, almost every company takes its staff through comprehensive training that sometimes lasts for six months. “Awareness of medical knowledge definitely is an edge.

However, there are many medical transcription units in India that also provide placements after training. Proper training of at least six months is a must for anyone desirous of entering this profession

While the company can measure the language skills and concentration levels of the trainee, the trainee can decide whether they find the job interesting enough. Some companies look for medical transcriptionists with experience.

Home Transcription Jobs booming despite of recession

Despite global economic downtrend, the Medical Transcription (MT) industry is looking for a further growth buoyed by a report of the NASSCOM stating that recession has not hit the healthcare industry.

Reverse is the trend in medical transcription outsourcing in the US, which is witnessing agonising attrition in large scale in IT, financial, manufacturing and other sectors.

MT companies in India observe that the demand for medical transcriptionists is great. There is currently a shortage of qualified medical transcriptionists - and demographic trends suggest that the outlook will continue to be favorable for some time to come. Good medical transcriptionists typically have no problem in obtaining and maintaining employment.

“High-speed Internet access and faster, more reliable operating systems have made collaboration and information exchange more efficient than ever before. Technology advances such as these make it possible for us to offer home-based transcriptionists positions to our staff. This enables us to create a pleasant, family-friendly work environment that promotes both productivity and employee satisfaction,” says Anupam Gupta, HR Executive, MTHomeMD.com.

What is medical transcription?

Medical transcription is the process where one accurately and swiftly transcribes medical records dictated by doctors and others, including history and physical reports, clinic notes, office notes, operative reports, consultation notes, discharge summaries, letters, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology reports.

It involves receiving dictation by tape, digital system or voice file, and using earphones, a foot pedal for start-stop control and a word processing program. It sometimes includes the use of a printer and sometimes a modem. A variety of word-processing systems are used. It requires good listening and language skills, computer skills and knowledge of medical terms.

Advantage of being in India

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION AS A PROFESSION

In simple terms, MT is the conversion of doctors’ digitized audio files into text files. The doctor, while examining patients or performing surgery, dictates the details of the procedures into a Dictaphone which is attached to the computers. The data is collected and transferred to the respective Transcription Company in the form of voice files. The Transcription Company downloads these files and transcribes them using sophisticated software. Upon completion, these files are transferred back to the doctors via the Internet. 

Advantage of being in INDIA

1) A virtual 12-hour time zone difference with USA makes it possible for
us to meet the turn-around-time for MT work. Since we work when it
is night in USA, we are able to deliver work faster than Medical
Transcription companies based in USA
2) A huge pool of English speaking and skilled Computer literate
manpower.
3) Cost of employing qualified personnel is much lower than the USA.

Job Profile of Medical Transcriptionist

The primary task of the medical transcriptionist is to transcribe, format and proofread medical records. Medical records for transcription are primarily sourced from the USA. They are outsourced for transcription from a variety of healthcare settings including doctor's offices, private/public hospitals, clinics, laboratories, legal offices, veterinary and medical clinics, research centres. Dictations are done not only by doctors but also by surgeons, nurses pharmacists, therapists, nurses and other paramedical staff. Medical transcriptionists receive the doctor's dictation by tape, digital systems or as a voice data file. Digitised data through the Internet is the most common means of receiving medical data from the USA.

The local transcription company receives the data and they uncompress it. At this point, the medical transcriptionist takes over. Using a suitable word processing programme/application the audio file is transcribed and edited. There are two stages in MT. The first is the actual process of transcription by a medical transcriptionist. This is followed by proofreading and editing. The MT industry employs a number of proofreaders, junior and senior editors as well. Proofreaders and editors perform the following functions:

* Visual proofreading
* Electronic spellcheck
* Grammar check
* Checking for medical inconsistencies and inaccuracies

The medical record - now in text form - is then routed back to the concerned doctor or hospital.

Is Medical transcription on revival ?

Industry players unanimously agree. "The potential is huge," says Vishal Jain, CEO of Delhi-based Rekha Transcription India. All the key medical transcription companies, he notes, have been logging 30-50% growth. "We are all scrambling for capacity and this is because transcription companies in the United States are scrambling for capacity.

Indeed, that's what is driving this growth. While the $12 billion medical transcription industry there (US), is growing at 20%, the growth of employees is only 10%. The industry, says Valuenotes, will grow to $16.8 billion in 2010.

Around 30% of the work is outsourced in the United States, of which around 10-15% comes to India, which offers a huge cost advantage - work here is 30% cheaper.

Medical transcription was among the first IT-enabled services to be outsourced to India. It is the process whereby one transcribes medical records dictated by doctors and others, including history and physical reports. It is in demand in the US as the entire healthcare industry there is based on insurance and detailed medical records are needed for processing these claims.

After a boom in the mid-1990s, when a lot of mom-and-pop shops erupted on the scene, the industry went bust around 2001, following a huge decline in the quality of work.

Medical Transcription Certification - by MU

For students who have just completed class XII and want to take up a career that directly prepares them for work, University of Mumbai's Garware Institute of Career Education and Development is the place to go to. For under-graduate diploma courses, students seeking admissions will have to appear for an entrance exam followed by an interview. 

Medical Transcription
Admission on the basis of a written test and interview
Duration: 6 months (Part time)
Fee Structure: Rs 15,000/-

Home Based Medical Transcription : “A Second Income”

In general a MT or a QA has to work 8 hrs to 10 hrs in a day. Either you work in general shift or in some special shift timing, each one of you have close to 2-4 hrs spare in daily routine to do transcription at home. Thus there is chance to make second income.

"Second Income" is the one that we always dreamt of and always wanted to make or earn quickly. That is the basic nature of the human being to make best out of the current resources.

Home transcription is the best option as a second income for MTs/QAs in medical transcription industry. In general a MT or a QA has to work 8 hrs to 10 hrs in a day. Either you work in general shift or in some special shift timing, each one of you have close to 2-4 hrs spare in daily routine to do transcription at home. Thus there is chance to make second income.

Some of the medical transcriptionists have chosen home transcription as their full time job. Which is bit risky !!! As they not sure that how much they gona make in a month. It could be more or less. A fixed income always help to plan out expenses. If you are working for a company then its shields you from ups and down in a business life cycle. Hence the best option is a home transcription as a second income.

How To Start Home Based Medical Transcription?

A lot of people think about starting home based MT, but don't know where to begin. Others worry about failure. You don't have to worry with medical transcription because you can start small and build up your business at your own pace, in your spare time. You don't have to give up a job to start medical transcription at home if you don't want to. That's what is so nice about it.

The Basic Requirement to start home medical transcription are

1) Hardware required for medical transcription 
a. Computer 
i. RAM – Minimum 256 MB
ii. Hard Disk – Minimum 20 GB
iii. CPU – Minimum 2.2 Ghz
b. Foot Pedal
c. Ear phones
d. Amplifier 

I strongly recommend 512 MB of RAM or above as while transcribing a medical report you would require to open multiple application (like medical dictionary, spell checker, word, IE, etc) simultaneously. Hence more the memory you have the more would be the speed of the computer.

2) Softwares required for Medical Transcription
a. Preferable WinXP, 
b. Microsoft Office 2000
c. Medical Dictionaries
d. Spell Checker
e. Line Counter application for invoicing 

For free line counter application you can drop me a mail at info@rekhatranscription.com.

Important :
Need not to worry about getting work. Just register on www.mthomemd.com and someone would contact you for sure. They are good and reliable on payments. Only issue with MTHomeMD is initial response is late (may be a month), but once they enroll you then there is no looking back.

Is home-medical-transcription a right career for me?

Medical transcriptionists are in demand.

Transcription services now range from small, one-person home-based businesses to sophisticated, high-tech corporations. Localmedical transcription services serve client hospitals throughout the nation. Some medical transcription services now employ both "on-site" and home-based medical transcriptionists. Medical transcription is a career that easily moves across geographic borders.

Many areas of the country are desperate for qualified medical transcriptionists. Fortunately, technological advances have allowed medical transcriptionists in one part of the country to work from home for employers located elsewhere.

How medical transcription is a recession proof job

Why medical transcription is a recession proof job?

Education, environmental, health care and energy sector are understood as recession proof sectors. The need of health care services is never going to decline. Rather it will increase year on year. Medical transcription being a part of health care industry is recession proof job to be in and has a bright future.

Effect of recession on home medical transcription

This recession will have positive impact home medical transcription(HMT). Most of the US companies are moving towards “home based medical transcription” in order to minimize their fixed cost. Even in India many of the permanent transcriptionist have started doing home based transcription to make extra money.

Voice recognition technology has challenged the traditional way of medical transcription. But due to recession the companies who were planning to buy such application won’t do it now, as it requires huge investment. And now no one has that money to pump into it. 

Hence the home medical transcription is right formula for medical transcription service organization (MTSO)to reduce cost, thus giving advantage to transcriptionist.

Voice Recognition V/s Medical Transcription

The fight between legacy Medical Transcription and Voice recognition technology has been for several years. However, the usage of speech recognition technology has increased in medical transcription industry, but it’s not capable of replacing a traditional medical transcription. 

The companies using voice recognition technology (like Dragon) transformed the life cycle of medical transcription report and changed the work style of transcriptionist too. 

The growth is voice recognition is directly proportionate to growth inhome based medical transcription. As the rough draft are readily available with the voice file to be transcribed.

Though correctness of the rough draft varies from physician to physician. A dictator who has good command on English and doesn’t re-phrases the dictated sentence can get 80 to 90 % of correct drafts. Still such accurate reports needs to be proof read. Hence doesn’t eliminate the need of the transcriptionist.

Maybe sometime in the future someone will invent voice recognition technology that can handle all the above issues. Till then businesses will need to use transcription services, particularly for work like medical transcription, where accuracy is critical.

Home based Medical Transcription

The simplest definition of Transcription is conversion of voice to electronic text form. Medical Transcription is an IT enabled service that requires specialized skills in utilizing Information technology in converting the voice data of the doctors who are in the US, consisting of patient history and medical advises into electronic documents. Medical transcription as an industry in India has shown very encouraging growth providing employment for millions of Indian youth, as well as business opportunities. Medical transcription is one of the fastest-growing professions in the country today, notifies the U.S. Department of Labor. It is ranked #14 in the top 25 professions and is ranked as a #1 home based MT career. The continuous growing demand for medical transcriptionists is attributed to a growing and aging population. Older age groups receive greater numbers of medical tests, procedures, etc. This growing demand is also spurred by the need for electronic documentation that can be easily accessed by providers, third-party payers, consumers, etc.

US Recession and Medical Transcription

Time has come for to realize that US financial crisis can affectMedical transcription industry too and will gradually effect transcriptionist wallet. As transcriptionist get paid by MT companies, and MT companies get paid by physicians, and physician get money from insurance companies or from the patients themselves.

The majority of patients don’t have insurance, then it depends upon how much cash do they have? 

If the income were suddenly reduced or eliminated, are they prepared? I’ll tell you one thing; Washington does not have a “bailout plan” for you personally.

That’s definitely not going to happen. So there will be no “government lottery.” As hard as it might be for you to believe, there are people who aren’t worried at all right now, why? Because they have no debt! If they lost their income, they won’t lose their home, they won’t lose their cars, and many of them have enough cash to live on for quite a while. Okay, debt free and worriless living is a different topic.

So, what do you think? Kindly cast you vote on the poll……..