Medical transcription outsourcing and risk management are closely related. Risk management involves minimizing the risk involved in the healthcare process, and medical transcription is the process of creating patient records from healthcare professionals’ audio narration of their encounter with the patient. The process of creating patient medical records, by its very nature, is an activity that requires sensitive handling and would affect risk management.
It is a known fact that the patient-healthcare professional relationship is sacrosanct and is based on the ability of the healthcare professional / healthcare facility to maintain the confidentiality of the patient’s privileged information. Protecting the confidentiality of patient information is not only a moral obligation, it is also mandated by law. HIPAA has provided specific guidelines to protect confidential patient information. The HITECH provisions that have recently come into effect have provisions that are based on HIPAA and have provided HIPAA with an additional arsenal to punish violators.
Outsourcing this entire process has been shown to be one of the most efficient, effective, and cheapest ways to create patient records. However, handing over this activity to a third-party service provider raises some security concerns.
However, these concerns can be alleviated by choosing the transcription provider carefully. This will ensure that the provider:
Know the HIPAA / HITECH requirements well
It has provisions to ensure total security.
Ensuring that the entity entrusted with the responsibility of creating patient medical records is HIPAA / HITECH compliant will also help with the risk management process.
How can outsourced medical transcription services help with the risk management process?
To understand how this helps with risk management, it is important to understand the principles of risk management and how outsourced services help the process.
The principles of risk management are as follows:
Create value
Be an integral part of the organizational process.
Be part of the decision making
Explicitly address uncertainty
Systematic and structured
Based on the best information available
To measure
Consider human factors
Transparent and inclusive
Dynamic and receptive to change
Continuous improvement and improvement
These services assist healthcare facilities in the risk management process by complying with all risk management principles during the process of documenting the encounter with the patient.
It ensures:
Medical records are created with the utmost precision. It ensures this by using teams that are specialists in the specialty in which they are transcribing. Higher quality is ensured by multi-level quality control that ensures the highest precision. Information captured in patient records must be accurate as it forms part of the evidence in negligence litigation.
Medical records are created on time. Optimal response time is ensured by using the right equipment, the right process, and the right technology. This ensures that healthcare professionals have the information they need to formulate patient care plans on time. This helps manage risk.
Medical records are created securely. Another aspect of risk management is protecting the confidentiality of patient information. Assistance is provided in this regard by taking steps to protect patient information through the security of people, processes, and technology.
Outsourcing medical transcription to the right service provider not only helps healthcare facilities in some aspects of risk management, but also helps healthcare facilities save costs, increase focus on core business and help provide multiple benefits through the use of appropriate technology.