Medical transcription is an important contributor to the smooth running of a healthcare facility by creating patient records efficiently.
However many healthcare facilities tend to overlook the role that creation of records can play in smoothing out the operations of the healthcare facility.
Often times it has been noticed that healthcare facilities avail these services from a mix of in-house employees, Independent contractors and outsourced service providers.
As the need for patient medical records creation grows it has been found that availing medical transcription services from different sources can result in the following deficiencies:

• Missing files: Entire files of dictation by healthcare professionals could be misplaced due to the lack of a single source service provider It also becomes very difficult to trace the status of the finished transcripts.
  The same healthcare professional's files could be transcribed by various sources causing confusion about factors like formats, turnaround time etc
• Duplicating efforts: When this work is executed through disparate sources, the process of allocating audio files, follow-up of work-in-progress and archiving of transcribed files could be duplicated
• Improperly assigned work: Work allocation to the various sources of transcription could be confusing, resulting in work assignments getting mixed up.
  People not well versed with the templates/formatting requirements of the healthcare professional could produce work of less than desirable standards
• Constant strain on resources: Getting this service executed through varied sources would place a constant strain on the resources of the healthcare facility, like the administrative, managerial and Information Technology staff
• Other factors: Factors like poor connectivity, lack of proper systems/infrastructure, lack of skills in the particular specialty could result in substandard quality of work
• Difficulty in computing costs: When varied sources are used for executing medical transcription work it is very difficult to ascertain the actual cost per line of transcription.
  A lot of time would be wasted on reconciling the costs.
  Outsourcing medical transcription services to a professional service provider can help the healthcare facility have a fix on not only the cost factor but also all other factors.
  

Some of the advantages of outsourcing medical transcription are as follows:

• Increased efficiency: Outsourcing to a single source, increases the efficiency of the healthcare facility staff.
  The specific needs of the healthcare professionals are taken into consideration by the service provider while customizing solutions.
  This ensures that the process of transcription is more efficient.
  Moreover the billing method is standard, ensuring that the cost per line of transcription is clearly defined, this ensures that every one is on the same page with regard to cost
• Reduced errors: Factors like standard formats/templates, transcriptionists trained in different specialties, use of advanced technology, multiple level quality checks, quality guidelines ensure that the error rates are dramatically reduced.
  The integrity of the information is preserved
• Consistent process: The system for uploading dictations, and downloading finished transcripts is configured to ensure that no time is wasted on searching for files.
  The staff can also keep tabs on the files at every stage of the work-in-progress.
  Features like archiving also make the process of tracing and retrieving old files very easy
• Robust reporting capability: Outsourcing to a professional service provider ensures that the reports are of optimum quality, available within the promised turnaround time and features like remote printing and faxing also add to the quality of reports
• Reduced strain on internal resources: By outsourcing the process of creating patient medical records, the strain on internal resources is dramatically reduced, in terms of both people as well as resources like real estate, utilities and working capital