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31 May 2003
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This internet thing works!!!

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Dear Friends,

Some time back a senior colleague who is an oncosurgeon in the US
quipped back to me - "prove to me that this internet thing works!"
I just came across an article "Faster, cheaper transcription" by
Pratik S. Pradhan, MD, an otorhinolaryngologist from Norwood, MA
which quite effectively addresses that query.

Dr. Pradhan writes how they were outsourcing to a local
transcription company for 14 cpl and getting an average TAT of one
to two weeks. They decided to look offshore. Finding medical
transcription companies is easy, says Dr. Pradhan. "I found plenty
of companies, by searching Google." (Don't believe it? Do a search
at Google/Yahoo/AOL/MSN etc.. for "Medical Transcription in India"
and see what comes up!)

"One of our physicians tested the system" writes Dr. Pradhan.
"After two weeks, he happily reported that the new transcription
service was as accurate as the old one, but a lot faster. We were
getting transcriptions within two days!"

However, there are some things physicians interested in using
offshore services should be aware of, warns Dr. Pradhan:

1) You'll need to invest in digital recorders, computers, printers,
and related equipment.

2) Employees need to be trained how to copy, upload, download,
and print files.

3) It may take some time to establish a good Internet connection.

"With reimbursements decreasing and documentation requirements
increasing, it's heartening to see a real-world technology that
improves both patient care and reduces cost," says Pradhan. "After
15 months, our group is very satisfied. Our transcription charges
for 2002 were half that of 2001 - we saved more than $67,000. We've
also reduced total overheads by nearly 3 percent, in essence giving
each physician in our group an $8,000 raise."

So dear Dr. Omar Majid - this "internet thing" does work :-)! But
it does need some effort from both sides to do so.

Read Dr. Pradhan's article published at the Medical Economics May
23, 2003:
http://tinyurl.com/d47j

Enjoy!

Maj (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) Kaiser officials defend offshore outsourcing

"Protecting our members' privacy is a primary mission for every
Kaiser Permanente employee and physician, and we will not let that
privacy be compromised in any way," says Bernard Tyson for Kaiser.

"We would like to address one issue that was not easy to ignore in
Lazarus' piece. The column hinted that our foreign business
partners might not be as reliable or trustworthy as their American
counterparts. Though he claims he's not suggesting this to be the
case, the fact that he cleverly insinuates the message into his
story leaves the reader with a clear impression of what he really
thinks. This kind of undertone is appalling coming from a newspaper
such as The Chronicle. At Kaiser Permanente, we are proud of our
long tradition of embracing diversity, and we know that it only
makes us a better place to deliver and receive health care.

Regardless of where we maintain our software systems -- in Indiana
or India -- we will continue to be committed to each member's
privacy"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2
003/05/18/BU277553.DTL&type=

2) NIST Releases Draft Security Standard

Federal Computer Week reports the National Institute of Standards
and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division recently
released the draft of a new Federal Information Processing
Standard, FIPS 199, which dictates how agencies should categorize
their systems based on the security risk faced by each. The
standard is the first step in setting minimum security requirements
for all government systems not related to national security. It is
the first federal document that explains why systems must be
brought up to a minimum standard of due care for security before
in-depth risk assessments are conducted.

http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/index.cfm#0519fcw

3) Grotech hires banker to grow health care

Baltimore venture capital firm Grotech Capital Group has hired a
former investment banker, Harris Hyman IV, to oversee the expansion
of its portfolio of health care companies.

Grotech has four health care companies in its portfolio. One,
HealthScribe is a Sterling, Va.-based company that provides
outsourced medical transcription services over the Web. Grotech was
the lead investor in HealthScribe's $9 million initial round of
funding and participated in the company's $1 million expansion
round late last year.

Health care services companies received $417 million in venture
funding last year, according to the National Venture Capital
Association. 20 health care services companies received first-time
funding rounds last year, up from 17 startups in 2001, a reversal
of the national trend in other sectors, Taylor said. "We clearly
have a sector here that's continuing to receive venture dollars,"
he said.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2003/05/19/story
6.html

4) Acusis Celebrates National Medical Transcriptionist Week

Acusis, is recognizing its team of more than 300 transcriptionists
throughout the United States and India for consistently delivering
98 percent accurate reports in a fast turnaround time of 24 hours
or less. National Medical Transcriptionist Week celebrates the
critical role that medical transcriptionists have in serving as the
link between the physician and the patient and ensuring accurate
patient record documentation.

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/cb_headline.cgi?&story_file=bw.
051903/231395057&directory=/google&header_file=header.htm&footer_fi
le=

5) Fast track soon to clear IT building projects

The TN Government will evolve a "fast-track" mechanism for
clearance of building plans and construction projects for the
information technology sector, according to Vivek Harinarain,
Secretary (IT) to the government.

Sunil Bhumralkar, Director, Ernst and Young, international
consultants, presenting a study on India as a destination for BPO
(business process outsourcing) in financial services, said back
office services accounted for 42 per cent of the Indian BPO market,
followed by customer interaction services (28 per cent), content
development (26 per cent), medical transcription (two per cent) and
remote education (two per cent). Although India offered significant
advantages for offshoring of BPO, several issues needed to be
addressed for a sustained long-term growth. These included
quality-related issues, geopolitical risks associated with
terrorism and relations with Pakistan, high rates of attrition
(viz, employee turnover) caused by the monotonous nature of the
work, organising training institutions and data protection.

http://hinduonnet.com/stories/2003053103780500.htm

6) MT gets broadband to Coffman Cove

Coffman Cove in southeastern Alaska is one of the remotest
locations - about 200 inhabitants in the summer, 140 in winter.
There are several bed and breakfast hotels, a bunkhouse, two small
stores and a gas station. That's it.

Their first taste of the Internet came with a short-lived local
ISP, which used to offer dial-up service. It was too expensive and
too slow. But some residents had seen something better. A
Massachusetts company hired locals to do medical transcription work
online. They researched broadband solutions to connect them to
their employer and eventually brought in service from a satellite
Internet company.

http://www.80211-planet.com/columns/article.php/2212361

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Thank you for your interest in MT India!

The MTIndia Team
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