MT India Newsletter - http://www.MTIndia.info/

Apr 07, 2007
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Health Information Privacy and Security Week

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Dear Friends,

April 8 through 14 is Health Information Privacy and Security Week.
This annual event is sponsored by AHIMA to raise awareness among
healthcare professionals, their employers, and the public of the
importance of protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security
of personal health information. During the week, AHIMA and the
community of HIM professionals are working to educate and inform
these groups of their rights and responsibilities related to the
use and disclosure of personal health information. To access the
planning kit online, visit here:
http://www.ahima.org/hipsweek/

Cheers!

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

"It takes years to become an overnight success! Inch by inch, it's
a cinch."

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) CBaySystems Named as a Supplier for GNYHA Services Members

After a thorough selection process, CBaySystems, a provider of
health care technology, outsourced business solutions, and medical
transcription services, was chosen as a supplier for GNYHA Services
members, a group purchasing organization. Under the agreement, CBay
will provide access to a full array of integrated document
management services, including medical transcription, dictation
capture, and speech recognition to GNYHA Services' alliance of
nearly 250 member hospitals located throughout New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico.

The GNYHA Services group purchasing program is offered in
conjunction with Premier Purchasing Partners, LP (Premier).
CBaySystems and GNYHA Services have arranged for all members of the
GNYHA Services group purchasing program to have access to
CBaySystems' services.

"We are pleased that through our relationship with CBay, we are
able to offer the GNYHA Services membership a robust transcription
service solution at a very competitive price," said Donna
Gammarato, Vice President of Supply Chain Management at GNYHA
Services.

http://www.drugnewswire.com/14681/

2) Lake Systems to set up BPO unit in Nashik

Bangalore-based Lake Systems Pvt Ltd (LSPL), a healthcare business
process outsourcing (BPO) major, is setting up its first unit in
Nashik. The company will initially employ 100 professionals.
Speaking to Business Standard, Pratibha Nakil, director of the
company, said, "As part of our expansion plan, we are setting up a
healthcare BPO unit at Nashik. We have leased a 3,500-sft property
in Satpur MIDC area of Nashik. Initially, we will recruit 100
people and increase the strength gradually."

She said the major focus was on medical transcription (MT) and the
company had most of its clients in the US and Australia. "We want
to grow as much as possible. We will build our own facility at
Nashik if we get adequate skilled manpower here," she added.

The business volume of the global MT industry is around $22 billion
of which, 20 per cent comes from India, according to her. The size
of the business generated by the MT industry annually in India has
been estimated at $5 billion. In India, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Delhi are the prominent centres for the MT industry but now the
business is seen shifting to smaller cities such as Pune, Kochi,
Coimbatore and Nashik, she said.

Currently, LSPL has its BPO unit in Bangalore employing 150 people.

http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=8&subLeft=2&chklo\
gin=N&autono=278239&tab=r

3) Spheris posts Q4 loss, margins improve

Medical transcription services provider Spheris posted a loss in
the fourth quarter and for the full year, but saw an improvement in
operating margins. Revenue came in at $51.4 million in the fourth
quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $50.8 million in the fourth quarter
last year. Company officials attributed the revenue increase to the
acquisition of Vianeta Communications, a company it acquired last
year.

Expenses held the line at about $50 million and income before taxes
and interest increased to $1.3 million from $954,000 in the last
quarter of 2005. The company's Q4 loss came in at $3.4 million, the
same as the previous fourth quarter.

For the year, the Franklin-based company posted a loss of $12.2
million, up from $10.2 million in 2005. Revenue was down slightly,
coming in at $152 million, about $2 million below the year-ago
results. Expenses decreased about $1.5 million to $203 million.
Income before interest and taxes decreased 9 percent to $4.1
million.

In a statement accompanying the company's financial results,
company officials noted the loss increase was primarily attributed
to increased interest expense as a result of rising rates on
variable rate senior secured credit facilities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2007/03/26/daily12.html?from_rss=1

4) MedQuist, former officers, settle securities lawsuit

MedQuist Inc. has settled claims connected to a shareholder
class-action lawsuit for $7.75 million, the electronic medical
transcription company said.

The Greater Pennsylvania Pension Fund was the lead plaintiff in the
suit, which alleged MedQuist violated federal securities laws by
issuing false and misleading statements to the market between April
2002 and November 2004. The lawsuit alleged the statements
artificially inflated the market price of the company's securities.
MedQuist and the former company officers named as defendants did
not admit liability or wrongdoing in the settlement.

In 2004, MedQuist of Mount Laurel, N.J., announced it was
restructuring its top management and instituting other reform
measures following an eight-month independent review that found
problems with the company's billing methods. The company has said
it is cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission's
ongoing investigation into its billing practices.

The settlement is subject to formal documentation by the parties
and conditioned on final court approval.

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2007/03/26/daily28.html

5) Revenue from healthcare BPO to triple by 2011

Healthcare BPO service provider Zavata India's $80 million contract
with four major US hospitals in November last year is a healthy
example of the booming healthcare BPO services sector. Offshoring
of healthcare revenue cycle management services is set to gain
traction this year, with Zavatas deal likely to set a strong
precedent for more contracts involving turnkey end-to-end revenue
cycle management (RCM) services.

A range of services beginning from the admission to post-discharge
of a patient including medical coding, billing, medical
transcription, claims generation, patient follow-up, et al are
referred to as revenue cycle management. More than half of the US
hospitals are directly or indirectly offshoring various components
of healthcare services, offshore vendors can now expect more
end-to-end work, according to a recent report....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1812871.cms
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Thank you for your interest in MT India!

The MTIndia Team
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