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29 Nov 2003
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Everyone can't be an MT!

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Dear Friends,

Continuing the interview with Ms. Pfahning...

Please note the interview is over 4 years old and some information
may be outdated.
-------------------------------------------------------
Q: Everyone cannot be an MT. What are the minimum prerequisites
that a candidate should possess before embarking on an MT course of
instruction?

You are right...this job is not for everyone! A good candidate
must have good basic level of knowledge as well as possess
excellent English skills both in communication as well as written.
Many candidates do not speak English outside the classroom or home.
Speaking English on an ongoing basis helps to improve the skills
with which to be a good MT. I have found that those who have
science backgrounds are more receptive to the language used in this
profession. Those with convent schooling also excel in their
English language skills.

Computer and keyboarding is very helpful. However, there are
programs/software that allows the MT to learn and teach themselves
using this program. I think a short course in typing skills would
be helpful before embarking in this career, however.

Q: How long should an ideal classroom course be for the average
Indian candidate? How many hours of theory and practice?

There are different schools of thought on this subject. Some
courses have been taught in as short a time as 6 weeks (in the US),
with some being for 3 months, some 6 months, some 1 year and a
graduate course for 2 years (in the US).

The hours given to theory and practical depend on the length of the
course. If we are talking only of the medical theory part, for 3
months it would be approximately 120 hours, 240 hours for 6 months,
480 hours for one year. This is teaching 2 hours a day for 5 days
a week x 4 = 40 hours per month, etc. However, most courses also
include English, Americanisms, and Pharmacology which shares the
teaching time, therefore, the hours may be altered somewhat since
each of the other subjects also teach for approximately one hour
each as well. Theory then gets cut back to 1-1/2 hours rather than
2.

We all know that the end result depends on the amount of time
exposed to transcribing, therefore, as courses progress, the
transcription time should increase as well as the level of
difficulty progressing.

Q: What output can be expected from an MT fresh from such a course?

An MT should be able to transcribe a minimum of 200 lines at the
end of a 4 month course. Benchmarks should be established for them
to increase these skills on a continuing basis over the next few
months while being monitored on the job. This also depends on the
level of skill the MT begins with. Those without skills at all
will take longer to come up than those with skills. A person with
beginning skills will come up faster and should not be held back
because of the slower ones. More work should be given to them if
their accuracy level is good. Again, this depends on the level of
knowledge the individual has to begin with which will determine how
well they will do in the profession.

....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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BetaSoft immediately requires at Mumbai:
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* Medical Transcriptionists (MTs) (500 lines/shift) and Quality
Analysts (QAs) (1500 lines/shift).

* Remuneration will be the best in the industry.

* Interested candidates can contact us at 91-22-28524291/99 for an
appointment or send in their resumes to info.mt@....

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) Medical Transcription industry presses for US-compliant laws

In an attempt to avert what could be the second outsourcing
backlash after the BPO backlash in the US, the medical
transcription (MT) industry in the country has urged the Indian
government to put in place a legislation validating US HIPAA laws
in India with similar punitive measures for offenders here.

The move follows a threat by California state senator Liz Figueroa
(D-Fremont) that she would introduce a legislation in January 2004
to ban doctors, HMOs, and hospitals from sending confidential
doctors' notes and other medical records abroad for processing
unless businesses and individuals adhere to the new patient privacy
law she is introducing for enactment.

In response to the representation that was also sent to AP Chief
Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, apart from the Centre and all
parliamentarians, the Andhra administration has asked its
consultants McKinsey to study the issue and suggest a further
course of action, Prasad added.

One of the problems that ail the MT industry in India is that it is
not as yet organised like other segments of the ITeS industry,
companies say. For instance, while Nasscom maintains that there are
just 75 transcription companies, in reality there would be upwards
of 200, they contend.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow
?msid=323700

2) Local officials concerned that hospital jobs may be going to
India

Fletcher Allen Health Care's use of medical transcriptionists in
India has sparked concern among elected officials and labor leaders
who want to end the practice before it grows.

The hospital contracts with a company that hires medical
transcriptionists in India who do the work of 11 full-time
transcriptionists. Locally, Fletcher Allen employs 97
transcriptionists, hospital spokesman Mike Noble said.

Burlington City Councilor Phil Fiermonte, P-Ward 3, took issue with
the use of overseas employees, saying they take jobs from
Vermonters and set a dangerous precedent that could funnel more
jobs away from the area.

As Fletcher Allen works to rebuild good will with the community in
the wake of scandal over the cost of its $362.5 million expansion,
administrators should redouble efforts to hire Vermonters,
Fiermonte said.

Noble said the hospital has hired overseas workers for the past few
years because local workers are hard to find. The Indian employees
are accurate and economical, he said.

"We have positions open for medical transcriptionists. We can't
hire enough of them," Noble said.

In addition to keeping jobs in the state, privacy is a concern with
medical transcription overseas, Henry said.

Rep. Steve Hingtgen, P-Burlington, said he plans to support state
legislation that addresses so-called "offshoring" of jobs in
Vermont. Other states have passed laws requiring disclosure of
overseas call centers and prohibiting use of state money to support
companies that ship jobs overseas, he said.

http://burlingtonvt.org/health-and-safety/Fletcher-Allen-Health-Car
e/Local_officials_concerned_that_hospital_jobs_may_be_going_to_Indi
a.html

3) Medical records held hostage?

Jill Callaghan-Dennis, JD, RHIA, principal for Health Risk
Advantage and an AHIMA Board member, stated that she felt AHIMA's
press release did a superb job in clearly explaining that this type
of thing can happen in any industry and in any segment of health
care; it's not unique to transcription. "All health care providers
have to protect themselves is a contract, so the contract has to be
written carefully and deliberately," she explained.

"I think AHIMA did a great job outlining the risks in their press
release. They really hit the mark," explained Brenda Hurley, CMT,
FAAMT, director of medical transcription development for MedWare
Inc. "There are medical transcriptionists all over the world who
would never breach HIPAA or think of doing something so unethical,
and it's unfortunate that our field receives this publicity only
when something goes wrong," explained Hurley.

So has this amount of press and sudden spotlight hurt or helped the
medical transcription field? "I don't think there's been a negative
reaction," stated Callaghan-Dennis. "I think the reaction has been
more of an 'Oh my goodness that could have happened to me!' It's
generated a lot of interest and people are taking a closer look at
their contracts-and that's a good reaction."

http://www.advanceforhim.com/common/Editorial/Editorial.aspx?CC=257
50

4) Turning on a Dime: Making Sense of Turnaround Times

Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants just about everything
faster. Whether it be an Internet connection or a muffler repair,
speed is of the essence. It's no different when it comes to medical
transcription.

"Turnaround times are getting shorter," observes Kathy Rockel, CMT,
FAAMT, transcription manager for Transcription Relief Services,
LLC.

At Heartland Information Services in Toledo, Ohio, technology is
critical to meeting client demands, says Dennis Paulik, vice
president of sales and marketing. The company's 1,400 to 1,500
employees, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a
year out of three production sites in India, are linked to a
central system that constantly monitors workflow and file
priorities. As new files come in that require faster turnarounds
than those already in the queue, work can be re-sorted to ensure
the highest priority documents are prepared first-one of the major
benefits of a centrally networked process.

Some companies do implement practices designed to reduce or
eliminate any stress their transcriptionists may feel. Heartland,
for example, does not use a batch process to distribute its
work-transcriptionists simply go from one job to the next, unaware
of how many total files are waiting for them. Rather than being
overwhelmed or feeling rushed to complete a large number of waiting
files, employees can stay focused on the job at hand.

http://www.fortherecordmag.com/ftr_coverstory.htm

5) Acusis Remains Vigilant on Best Practices in the Outsourced
Medical Transcription Industry

Acusis(R) LLC, has taken recent action to reaffirm the firm's own
best practices regarding Protected Health Information security and
privacy. In response to recent industry news activity regarding the
threatened release of UCSF patient files by a subcontracted
offshore transcriptionist, the Company has also remained vigilant
in enforcing medical industry security requirements, including
those set forth by HIPAA, MTIA and other professional
organizations.

According to Acusis CEO, David Iwinski, Jr., "The outsourced
medical transcription industry was disappointed by recent
confidentiality breaches due to a subcontracted employee's own
agenda. Acusis highly encourages our customers or potential
customers - every hospital and clinic - to thoroughly research
every outsourced vendor under consideration, including us, for best
business practices. We do not condone subcontracting unique work
for sensitive medical information. At Acusis, there is zero
subcontracting and all work is done by Company associates."

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId
=news_view&newsId=20031126005245&newsLang=en

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Thank you for your interest in MT India!

The MTIndia Team
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