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Mar 12, 2005
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ADVERTISEMENT:
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Krypton, one of the oldest Medical Transcription Production Units
in Eastern India is on the lookout for MTs and QAs to expand their
operations in Kolkata. We need quality MTs and QAs. Remuneration
package linked to skill and productivity. Kolkatan's wishing to
return back will be warmly welcomed. A long term mutually
beneficial relationship, is our motto and goal.

Apply in confidence, or walk-in on mar Mar 14 between 10 am and 4
pm:

Krypton Infotech Limited
BF-173, Sector-1, Saltlake
Kolkata-700064
Phone: 33-23592717/ 23592727
email: krypton@...

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AAMT AND AHIMA to approve educational programs for MT

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Dear Friends,

Excerpts from the official press release:

The American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) and the
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) have
established the first set of educational criteria to monitor the
quality of medical transcription education.

"There has been no formal mechanism in place for reviewing or
approving medical transcription programs according to objective
criteria set forth by educators and practitioners in the field,"
stated Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, Executive Director of AAMT. "The
Medical Transcription Program Approval process will allow
prospective students to identify programs which have met rigorous
criteria for quality in all relevant areas of training, as well as
assist employers of medical transcriptionists in selecting
graduates from quality programs."

The Medical Transcription Program Approval is modeled after AHIMA's
Coding Program Approval process and based on criteria set forth in
the AAMT Model Curriculum, 3rd Edition. The Model seeks to promote
criteria-based educational programming that produces competent
entry-level medical transcriptionists and to provide assurance to
the industry of consistent quality outcomes in medical
transcription education.

"Enhancing individual patient care through timely and accurate
health information is one of the primary goals of AHIMA," stated
Claire Dixon-Lee, PhD, RHIA, FAHIMA, vice president of education
and accreditation at AHIMA. "Quality health information starts with
sound educational programs. We are pleased to support AAMT on this
initiative."

To learn more, see:
http://www.aamt.org/StaticContent/Download/MTPAM.pdf

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To participate in the Coffee Break Quiz Contest, click here now:
http://www.mtindia.org/jobs/
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Ciao!

Dr Amit Chatterjee, SM
Strategist / Founder ~ mailto:amit@...
MT India ~ www.mtindia.org
"The Community of MT Professionals"

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) Transcend Plans to Open Transcription Training Center in
Abilene, TX

Transcend Services, Inc. announced an agreement with the
Development Corporation of Abilene, Inc. ("DCOA") to receive up to
$2 million of forgivable, interest-free loans for opening a medical
transcription training center and regional office in Abilene, TX.
Transcend will hire and train up to 208 work-at-home medical
transcription professionals and support personnel in metropolitan
Abilene to serve Transcend's growing customer base located
throughout the United States using Transcend's Web-based, speech
recognition-enabled technology.

Larry Gerdes, Chief Executive Officer of Transcend, indicated "The
medical language specialists that transcribe and edit our
customers' dictated medical records are critical to the operation
and growth of our Company. Creating a new supply of these
professionals in Abilene is a win-win-win for Transcend, the City
of Abilene and the United States. Transcend is committed to
protecting the confidentiality of its customers' medical records
and growing the American workforce by using only domestic resources
to perform medical transcription services, contrary to a medical
transcription industry trend of using offshore labor."

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&ne\
wsId=20050310005103&newsLang=en

2) Doctors try new voice recognition software

A handful of doctors are testing a software program that could
eliminate the medical transcription industry's reliance on cheap
labor.

"Medical transcription companies, because of the cap on fees, are
trying to lower the cost of doing business. That's where we come
in," said Robert J. Powers, co-founder of Anagraf, a company whose
new software could eliminate much of the labor involved in medical
transcription.

Powers, a Boston marketing consultant, and Jim Beauvais, an Ipswich
resident, have teamed up to sell ChatMed, a transcription software
developed by their New York-based partner Sunil Sreenvasan.
"It's either going to hit big, or it's going to flop," said
Beauvais, who would oversee the Ipswich-based operation.

Powers described ChatMed as a souped-up engine that operates on
voice recognition software licensed by IBM and ScanSoft. ChatMed
goes further than the current technology, he said, because it
recognizes the quirks of a doctor's voice as well as medical
vocabulary.

Powers said doctors and medical transcription companies are
operating on the same system in place since the 1980s. Every day,
doctors dictate patient files onto tapes or a digital recorder. A
courier picks up the recordings and delivers them to a transcriber,
who delivers the completed text file on paper or electronically.

The service is a "grudge purchase" for doctors so they have been
paying the same rate, 8 cents to 14 cents a line, since the 1980s,
Powers said. That leaves medical transcribers trying to increase
their profitability either through cheaper labor in India or
improved productivity at home.

ChatMed would eliminate the need for cheaper labor and free up
transcribers to concentrate on proofing, Powers said. ChatMed also
promises to hasten turnaround time because it is Web-based.
Recordings are fed to the software over the Internet, and the
transcriptions are spit out the same way.

Although a handful of doctors use the software directly, Powers and
Beauvais hope to work through the medical transcription field,
which have established relationships with doctors' offices and
hospitals.

http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/04/s/sstory.pl?fn-chatmed0308

3) Teleradiology: Hype Vs Reality

The demand for radiology services in the US market is growing while
the supply of radiologists is not growing enough to match the
requirements. However, we need to take a step back and examine this
from a different perspective which some times is missing when every
other person wants to be running a healthcare BPO business these
days. When a large Indian IT organisation wanted to relocate more
radiologists of Indian origin to Bangalore, there were no takers.
Is there the right incentive for a radiologist in US to relocate to
India today, for professional reasons?

Healthcare in US is built on stringent regulations, because
healthcare is a politically sensitive issue in the country. The
fact is that, though there is a shortage of healthcare
professionals in the US, the country would not accept lesser
qualified professionals providing healthcare services. Credibility
being a key issue, the answer to successful teleradiology operation
is to have one/several US board certified radiologists who can sign
off on the radiology reports. The US board certified radiologist
should be willing to take the risk of litigation arising from the
transaction, as he signs off on a report generated by the offshore
radiologist.

The layered review approach used in medical transcription may not
work very well in teleradiology. The teleradiology equivalent of
this (having some medical students run through the initial report
and then reviewed by a senior radiologist and then finally by the
US radiologist) kind of model may not work very well. Analysing an
image coming up with a report is a highly individualistic clinical
centric affair and cannot be broken down into phases. At the bottom
of the heart no US Board Certified radiologist (at least the ones I
have talked to including one of the veteran US radiologists) is
really confident of signing off on a report with his name, without
actually having infinite confidence in the offshore radiologist,
who comes up with the report.

http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/20050315/teleradiology01.shtml

4) US Divided on Privacy Risks of Electronic Medical Records

US adults are divided right down the middle on whether the
potential privacy risks associated with a patient electronic
medical record system outweigh the expected benefits to patients
and society, according to testimony given recently before the
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) of the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The testimony was
based on results of a new national Harris Interactive telephone
survey on the American public's views regarding Electronic Medical
Records (EMR). Majorities are worried that sensitive health
information might leak because of weak data security; that there
could be more sharing of patients' medical information without
their knowledge; that computerization could increase rather than
decrease medical errors; that some people won't disclose necessary
information to health care providers because of worries that it
will go into computerized records; and that existing federal health
privacy rules will be reduced in the name of efficiency.

http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/newsarchives/2005/0223pandab.htm

5) Pinoy investors willing to set up medical transcription firms

THE executive director of the Association of Solution Integrators
in Davao City (Asid), Oliver Robillo, revealed there are three
Filipino groups right now who are interested of putting up medical
transcription companies in Davao City since there is an existing
huge demand for medical transcriptionists in the United States.

"The US market is so big that a big space is still available to be
filled-in. The said market has still a lot to be met. They have
given the interest but they just need to be advised on how to
proceed with the implementation," he said. The major problem of the
industry as of now, Robillo said, is how to get demands from that
market. The said groups are also interested to put up another three
in General Santos City.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2005/03/08/bus/pinoy.investors.willing.to.p\
ut.medical.transcription.firms.here.html

6) CPOE systems can increase risk of medication errors

A new study suggests that computerized order entry systems, which
are implemented in part to reduce prescribing errors, can actually
increase the risk of medication errors in certain situations,
according to a study in the March 9 issue of The Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA).

http://enews.ama-assn.org/UM/T.asp?A40.442.2141.39.287605

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Mediweb Infotech Pvt. Ltd. All cited articles are copyright of
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Thank you for your interest in MT India!

The MTIndia Team
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