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Because of the complexity of the healthcare industry, documentation is growing rather than shrinking. Providers face a challenge that comes from how the myriad of documents will be managed as both speech recognition and the EMR transform the industry and the role of medical transcription.
KLAS spoke with more than 400 respondents in this third annual medical transcription services organizations (MTSO) report. One noted trend is that the percentage of study participants who use offshore transcription services has declined slightly since the 2007 study. In 2007, 38 percent reported using offshore services as opposed to 35 percent in 2008.
Quality, turnaround time (TAT), and cost continue to be the main drivers for engagements in this market segment. While each provider organization ultimately determines the value of each of these variables, the market itself is changing. New technologies bring new options to hospitals, as healthcare providers are faced with growing dictation volumes, a shrinking transcription labor force, and rising costs.
There are differences among MTSOs in the technology and tools, the services provided, and the price points. As product offerings become more vertical and well-rounded, the lines are blurring between speech recognition vendors and traditional transcription service vendors. To attract new clients and keep existing ones, MTSOs try to differentiate themselves and their offerings. Sometimes, penalties are written into the contract for missing TAT services levels.
Professional services vendors qualifying for inclusion in the MTSO report are Acusis, CBay, DTS America, Encompass, Focus Infomatics, Heartland, MedQuist, Spheris, SPi, Sten-Tel, Superior Global Transcend, and TransTech. Preliminary findings were also included in the report for AssistMed.
For more information about this or other research conducted by KLAS, visit the website or call 800-920-4109.
About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS’ mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from over 4500 hospitals and over 2500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, and medical equipment vendors. For more information, go to our website, email marketing at KLASresearch.com, or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative.
All KLAS data and reports are © 2008 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.
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