Outsourcing medical transcription work to offshore service providers has proven extremely effective in reducing overall transcription costs of individual health practitioners, clinics and hospitals. The actual savings of utilizing offshore providers compared to U.S.-based transcriptionists can range from 40 to as much as 70 percent.
The other important advantage is that aside from the cost savings, there is the important aspect of a significant increase in quality of transcribed work because of the multiple editing and quality assurance steps built into the processes of offshore transcription providers, unlike U.S.-based individual transcriptionists which are primarily one-person operations.
Why can offshore service providers provide unbelievably low costs, at a higher quality? Primarily because of the availability of highly-skilled, low cost medical graduates in preferred offshoring locations such as the Philippines. A salary survey report for medical transcriptionists [http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Medical_Transcriptionist/Salarym] conducted by Payscale reveals that the median salary for hospital-based medical transcripionists is around $31,287 per annum, or around $2,600 per month. On the other hand, the average salary of a medical transcriptionist in the Philippines, according to Jobstreet (a leading online job portal in the Philippines) is a maximum of $280 per month! This is 89 percent cheaper compared to the salaries of their U.S. counterparts.
Even if you factor in the supporting quality check personnel, Philippine-based service providers still offer significant savings compared to U.S.-based transcriptionists. To illustrate:
1. A Philippine-based transcriptionist earns $280 per month
2. Support costs such as salaries of editors and quality assurance specialists, office costs, and utilities are equivalent to around $300 per transcriptionist per month.
3. Assume a mark-up of around 30%, and you add around $174 per transcriptionist per month equivalent to the profits of the offshore provider.
4. Combine the three items and you get a figure of $754 per transcriptionist per month cost, significantly lower versus U.S.-based costs.
U.S.-based transcriptionists earn an average of $2,600 per month. Outsourcing, therefore, can save you up to $1,846 per transcriptionist per month, or around 71 percent in possible savings!
But aside from the savings, another important consideration is the marked increase in quality. Compared with utilizing a U.S.-based transcriptionist, which is primarily a one-person operation, with outsourced transcription, you have an entire transcription organization servicing your needs: transcriptionists, editors, quality assurance specialists, efficient organizational processes.
The forecast U.S. medical transcription spending in 2010 is around $16.8 billion. Currently, only 40 percent of U.S. transcription work is outsourced to offshore providers. Outsourcing the remaining 60 percent transcription work to offshore providers represents a significant cost savings opportunity. Assuming 60 percent cost savings in offshoring, this represents possible annual savings of $6.2 billion per year for the U.S. Healthcare Industry ($16.8 billion x balance 60% outsourced x 60% cost saving). Organizations serious in reducing healthcare costs should therefore seriously consider outsourcing of medical transcription work to offshore providers.
The other important advantage is that aside from the cost savings, there is the important aspect of a significant increase in quality of transcribed work because of the multiple editing and quality assurance steps built into the processes of offshore transcription providers, unlike U.S.-based individual transcriptionists which are primarily one-person operations.
Why can offshore service providers provide unbelievably low costs, at a higher quality? Primarily because of the availability of highly-skilled, low cost medical graduates in preferred offshoring locations such as the Philippines. A salary survey report for medical transcriptionists [http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Medical_Transcriptionist/Salarym] conducted by Payscale reveals that the median salary for hospital-based medical transcripionists is around $31,287 per annum, or around $2,600 per month. On the other hand, the average salary of a medical transcriptionist in the Philippines, according to Jobstreet (a leading online job portal in the Philippines) is a maximum of $280 per month! This is 89 percent cheaper compared to the salaries of their U.S. counterparts.
Even if you factor in the supporting quality check personnel, Philippine-based service providers still offer significant savings compared to U.S.-based transcriptionists. To illustrate:
1. A Philippine-based transcriptionist earns $280 per month
2. Support costs such as salaries of editors and quality assurance specialists, office costs, and utilities are equivalent to around $300 per transcriptionist per month.
3. Assume a mark-up of around 30%, and you add around $174 per transcriptionist per month equivalent to the profits of the offshore provider.
4. Combine the three items and you get a figure of $754 per transcriptionist per month cost, significantly lower versus U.S.-based costs.
U.S.-based transcriptionists earn an average of $2,600 per month. Outsourcing, therefore, can save you up to $1,846 per transcriptionist per month, or around 71 percent in possible savings!
But aside from the savings, another important consideration is the marked increase in quality. Compared with utilizing a U.S.-based transcriptionist, which is primarily a one-person operation, with outsourced transcription, you have an entire transcription organization servicing your needs: transcriptionists, editors, quality assurance specialists, efficient organizational processes.
The forecast U.S. medical transcription spending in 2010 is around $16.8 billion. Currently, only 40 percent of U.S. transcription work is outsourced to offshore providers. Outsourcing the remaining 60 percent transcription work to offshore providers represents a significant cost savings opportunity. Assuming 60 percent cost savings in offshoring, this represents possible annual savings of $6.2 billion per year for the U.S. Healthcare Industry ($16.8 billion x balance 60% outsourced x 60% cost saving). Organizations serious in reducing healthcare costs should therefore seriously consider outsourcing of medical transcription work to offshore providers.
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