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Mar 26, 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, to:

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

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Speech recognition & offshore

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Dear Friends,

Excerpts from an Interview with Paul Egerman, eScription Chairman
and CEO, which I found on the mark:

Q: Someone proclaims every year "The Year of Speech Recognition,"
but it always seems to be still another year or two away. Why is
that?

Ans: Your question is absolutely correct - there's an incredible
consistency going back nearly 20 years that people have been saying
that speech recognition is just a year or two or three away. They
don't really understand the problem or the technology. You wouldn't
say "Database technology is a year away" or "handheld devices are a
year away." The real issue is: what is the problem you're trying to
solve and how is technology being used to solve that problem?

The problem with speech recognition is that people have this
science fiction image of it, that it's somehow like Star Trek where
you can talk as fast as you can talk and the system will just
understand it, no big deal. That's not a year away, that's not
three years away. Maybe it's 10 or 20 years away, but certainly
it's not in the foreseeable future.

Q: Gartner predicted a dramatic drop in the need for
transcriptionists a few years ago. Did that prediction play out?

Ans: No. My view of the transcription industry is that technology,
such as background speech recognition, will cause that group to be
transformed. Instead of typists, the transcriptionists will become
the editors and quality assurance people. Transcriptionists have a
huge amount of knowledge, such as medical terminology and an
understanding of the institution and physicians they're
transcribing for. They will always be necessary. In fact, some
people think that the amount of dictation will go down with data
entry, but I think the amount of dictation, at least n the short
term, will increase.

Q: What effect did the offshore transcriptionist who threatened to
disclose PHI have on the industry?

Ans: Without a doubt, that one incident had a very chilling effect
on the industry. It caused us to do a lot of work to proactively
make sure that nothing like that would ever happen to our
customers. That occurred with someone supposedly located in
Pakistan, but could have just as easily occurred with someone in
the United States. Ultimately, protection of PHI can be achieved
when people work offsite. It just requires better technology that
wasn't used in that case.

Q: What was different in that case was that person was outside US
jurisdication. Wouldn't that be a problem only with offshore
transcriptionists?

Ans: I think that's probably the case, but we have a clever
solution for that. We can allow offshore people to do editing or
transcription on our system in such a way that we remove the
patient identification first. All they see is the body of the
document and the audio. We do other things, such as keeping things
in separate files. In our experience, the United States isn't the
only country wrestling with this. We actually lost a possible
transcription sale to a group in Canada because the Canadian health
system didn't want their medical records to enter the United
States. They felt they wouldn't have jurisdiction over American
citizens if they were to gain access.

To read the entire interview:
http://histalk.blog-city.com/read/1132135.htm

Ciao!

Maj (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) SPI Technologies Taps Industry Mainstay to Head Its Medical
Transcription Outsourcing Business

SPI Technologies Inc., announced the appointment of David Woodrow
as President of its medical transcription (MT) outsourcing services
division, SPI Healthcare Documentation, effective immediately.
Woodrow, who is currently Vice President of the Medical
Transcription Industry Association's Board of Directors, is highly
regarded in the industry for his success in starting up, building
and managing medical transcription businesses, including the MT
services division of Lanier WorldWide, which was acquired by
MedQuist in 1999.

Woodrow's appointment follows SPI's recent acquisition of KGMT, a
medical transcription business based in India, adding to SPI's
existing MT capabilities in the US and the Philippines. "David
joins our organization at a very exciting time, as we rapidly
expand our multi-country delivery platform to meet the growing
demand for MT outsourcing services by the US healthcare sector,"
said Ernest Cu, President and CEO of SPI Technologies. "David is
uniquely qualified to strengthen our leadership positioning in the
MT services sector, bringing a wealth of hands-on experience in
this business. I would also like to thank Robert for his success in
building a great platform for the division's continued growth and
success."

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&ne\
wsId=20050321005129&newsLang=en

2) Perot seeks expansion, to hold board meeting in India

Perot Systems, a Texas-based IT, BPO and consulting concern, will
be holding a meeting of its board of directors in Bangalore next
week underscoring the importance of India and the Asia-Pacific
region in its long-term growth strategy.

This is probably the first board meeting of a major US
multinational IT corporation in India, signalling Perot Systems'
commitment to seizing the global opportunities in the technology
services industry, the company stated in a press release. As part
of its plans to expand its facilities, Perot Systems has acquired
land in Bangalore, Noida near Delhi and Chennai.

According to Perot Systems president and chief executive officer
Peter Altabef, the company's India operations will play a
significant role in delivering integrated IT, BPO and consulting
solutions. The board, Mr Altabef said, felt it was important to
meet in India so that it could provide more solutions for the
customers, opportunity for its employees and value for the
shareholders.

The board meeting will also see the induction of Mr Anuroop Singh,
member board of directors and Ms Padma Ravichander, senior
executive-India/Asia Pacific region into Perot Systems, said the
release. Perot Systems is a global provider of technology-based
business solutions in targeted industries including healthcare and
the government sector.

Perot Systems acquired Vision Healthsource in August 2003 to add
the offshore healthcare capability, a key link in its healthcare
transformation strategy and global service delivery model.

http://www.iht.com/getina/files/232478.html

3) Northwest Arkansas chapter of the AAMT

Medical transcriptionists in Northwest Arkansas have formed a
committee to establish a local chapter of the American Association
for Medical Transcription.
The component association coordinator is Oleta Barnett of Rogers.

The Northwest Arkansas chapter being formed will present an
informational seminar May 21 at St. Mary's-Mercy Hospital in
Rogers. Medical transcriptionists in Northwest Arkansas are invited
to participate.

Those interested should contact Heidi Deertz, membership
chairwoman, P. O. Box 757, Rogers, Ark., 72757-0757, or by e-mail
at hdeertz@....

http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat&section=Business&storyid=26476

4) TransMahotsav: Annual Transcription Hungama

TransMahotsav, the Annual Transcriptionists' Festival, was held
this year on the 13th of March 2005, at TransDyne, Hyderabad. This
was a grand success with more than 2000 participants from 43
companies and 11 cities across India.

The festival achieved its twin objectives of establishing a bond
between members of the MT community and also giving a well-deserved
break from the monotony of work to all the participants.

While you wait for the 2006 edition, you can view some of the
images from TransMahotsav, 2005

http://www.transmahotsav.com/photogallery.html

5) The new-look HR guy

Once a people-centric profession, HR now has room for talent
ranging from entertainers to adventurers, sportspersons,
communicators and even good salespeople. And many HR functions are
now being outsourced.

Bangalore-based medical transcription company Healthscribe was the
first to recognise the need for fun and de-stressing programmes in
a BPO set-up and hired a Chief Fun Officer more than five years
ago. Prasenjit Ganguly, Vice-President HR, says the CFO must ensure
there is fun across the organisation, across shifts. Of course, he
has a fun budget at his disposal.

As Ganguly sees it, there are four emerging areas in HR: fun and
de-stress, creative activities like fitness training, internal
communication, and psychometric testing during recruitment.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/canvas/2005/03/26/stories/2005032600020100.h\
tm

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Thank you for your interest in MT India!

The MTIndia Team
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