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22 Nov 2003
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Indian MTs AND English

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Dear Friends,

As I see a resurgence of the MT profession in India, both with
MTSOs running free training curriculum and "fresh blood" opting in
for a career, I think it might be relevant to reprint an interview
with Arlette Pfahning, CMT. Ms Pfahning, got the initial training
program at HealthScribe going, then went on to become Director of
Training, Center for Medical Transcription Services, Bangalore.
Please note the interview is over 4 years old and some information
may be outdated.
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Q: What would you say is *the* shortfall in Indian MT Schools?

For those who are in the industry, we have recognized that the
major problem coming out of Indian MTs is the level of English.
Therefore, I think it a good idea to have a short course of
perhaps 3 to 4 weeks of just teaching English as required for
doing MT work since the English that is currently taught in Indian
schools is not broad enough to educate students in this
profession. Once this is established, they have a better grasp on
how to proceed with a more professional looking report where
English is concerned.

English should also be an ongoing process with remedial classes
even after being on the job, say some refresher exercises once a
month to hone up their skills using medical sentences like what
they come across in dictation.

There are so many "training" institutes that have popped up around
India in the past year. The most important question aspirants
should ask is, who is teaching the program, what experience does
the staff have in this profession and how long has the institute
been in business, how many students have been successfully placed
and maintained in positions. Do they have a professionally
trained transcriptionist assisting in the training program?
What types of materials are being used? Is the material used
recognized by the US MT Industry and/or training institutes and/or
professional organizations?

A good training institute will begin its training principles based
on the AAMT Book of Style and use it as their guideline. A good
medical Dictionary, be it Stedmans or Dorlands is essential. With
all the software packages out on the market this is more
accessible to the MT and having online electronic programs
definitely enhances the skills of the MT. A variety of
specialized medical specialty books are also available
for referencing. Everyone should have at least one or two complete
sets of reference books available, because as of yet, there is no
one book that has "everything in it" that an MT needs, therefore,
we use a variety of reference books to assist us in our work.

.....to be continued...........

We invite our members to discuss these issues further at the forum
www.mtindia.org/Forum/default.cfm

Cheers!

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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ADVERTISEMENT
-------------------------------------
Outsourcing:
-------------------------------------

* Looking for companies who can proofread 5000 lines on day #1 and
grow to at least 10,000 lines per day.
* All lines need to be executed thru proofer or MTs with prior
experience of direct submission to client only.
* Need to compulsorily work 24 x 7
* Very reliable and good bandwith essential.

To know more, see: www.focusmt.com

Apply in confidence to:
TN Raju
Focus Infosys
Phone : 9845357689
Fax : 5527230
Email : cmt@...

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) IFC to up investments in India to $1 bn

International Finance Corporation is planning to increase its
investments in India to $1 billion in the next two years even as it
has pumped in additional funds in a US-based company with
operations in Chennai.

The international investment arm of World Bank sees a potential in
business process outsourcing business, especially in medical
transcription (MT), which is emerging as a profitable business, IFC
investment officer (IT investments group) Daniel Crisafulli told
reporters on Friday.

"The MT/BPO is slated to grow at around $10-25 billion worldwide
and there is a huge potential for it in India," he added.

IFC has invested around $3 million in Spryance for expansion of its
India operations. The company, which has a centre in Chennai, plans
to open two more centres at Pune and Hyderabad, with an additional
workforce of 1,200, Spryance CEO and president Raj Malhotra said.

Spryance is also planning to invest an additional $5 million,
taking its total investment in the country to $9 million (around Rs
40 crore), Malhotra said.

The BPO company has a financial backing of around $7 million from
IFC and other investors, and had invested around $4million in India
in its first phase of development, he said.

The company is planning to upgrade its Chennai hub and build a
second facility to function as a backup unit and accommodate
increase in demand, he said, adding, the opportunities in business
is at around $3-4 billion.

Spryance caters to the Health Information Management (HIM) market,
which includes MT and is growing at around 15 per cent annually.
India accounts for around $80 million of the total $200 billion in
HIM market, he said.

The company, which has around 500 home-based transcriptionists
would ramp up the workforce to 800 by the end of 2003 and to 2,000
in the next 18 months, he said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow
?msid=283405

2) Careers from home

Working at home is an option again and a popular one at that, going
by the spate of home medical transcriptions now on the rise. For
the many who now stay at home and transcribe, this is one of the
best choices they have made. Besides the fact that they don't have
to brave the daily traffic, they are also able to look after their
homes and families while working at their convenience.

Says Prasanjit Ganguly, vice president, HR, Max Healthscribe, "We
decided to allow people to work from home but they have to meet
certain criteria. You should be in a position skillwise not to
require active help from a colleague. The competence level must be
very high too. We have about 60 people who work from home now in
places like Coimbatore, Salem and Mumbai."

Ananda Sanjeev, director, Acusis says, "I believe we pioneered the
home-based medical transcription in the city. It is a technology
that is not just about flexibility of time, convenience or having a
career. It is about having a state of mind that seeks to reach
professional excellence. And when you are homebound, it is much
more challenging because you are all alone at home, have no-one to
fall back on and you still have to do superior work. If you have
the right people with clear cut training, it is a win win situation
on both sides."

According to TN Raju, in charge, operations, Focus Infosys, "Those
who work from home will have to be formally trained and have hands
on experience with some company. There are so many advantages of
employing home transcriptionists like saving on the cost
infrastructure. It is a great opportunity for those who want to
stay at home and have a career."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?msid=294757

3) Calif. lawmaker seeks tighter medical data controls

A California lawmaker says she will introduce a bill to prohibit
hospitals from outsourcing data processing to companies outside the
United States after a Pakistan transcriptionist threatened to
expose patient data on the Internet.

"All of that service type of work that we think is being done here
in a very confidential manner is now being sent abroad," Democratic
California State Senator Figueroa said. "That information placed in
the wrong hands could be devastating to an individual."

Amy Buckmaster, president of the American Association for Medical
Transcription, recommends that hospitals contract with certified
transcriptionists.

"I don't think the issue is where the work is being done as much as
are qualified people doing it," she said. "Anytime documentation
leaves the facility there is a risk."

All the major U.S. privacy laws allow outsourcing if the
appropriate safeguards are in place, said Peter Swire, a professor
at Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and former chief
privacy counselor for the Clinton administration.

"The biggest danger to privacy and security is not the hacker that
is 'out there.' The biggest danger is well-intentioned but poorly
trained staff," said Ira Victor, president of Privacy Technician, a
security and regulatory compliance consultancy.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/11/20/rtr1155981.html

4) Local BPOs one-stop shops now

Healthcare segment is domain-specific. Hence most companies focus
not just on the heathcare vertical, but also on the horizontal.
Healthscribe and CBay are almost completely focused on medical
transcription. Apollo Health Street plans to focus on medical
coding. Vision Healthsource has diversified into healthcare,
offering medical coding, billing, contact centre, claims
processing. But it shied away from medical transcription, a
specialised area.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?msid=294244

5) Racing up the cyber highway

Manipur is set to become the second state in the Northeast after
Assam to have a Software Technology Park of India (STPI). If
everything comes out according to plan, the 40th STPI in the
country will be opened here on the Republic Day next year, thanks
to initiatives taken by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh.

Everything was finalised after the chief minister invited S.
Zindal, the director general of STPI, to Imphal to conduct a
survey. Officials claim that the director-general was impressed
when he found out that in Imphal more than 40 youths were working
on medical transcription even though proper Internet connectivity
and other infrastructure are lacking here. Ibobi Singh has already
provided a 3.2-acre plot and a building for the proposed STPI in
Imphal at the Manipur State Road Transport Corporation complex. The
corporation was wound up some time ago.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/031111/58/29aze.html
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The MTIndia Team
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