Amplify EHR Efficiencies with Medical Transcription Services

With the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHR) in the last few years, physicians have generally been presented with two options: modernize, or get left behind with old-fashioned paper medical records. However, with the implementation of EHRs, some physicians feel typing in a computer is not only inefficient, but also unfriendly to the practice of medicine.

While there are numerous advantages for using EHRs, they are often criticized for slowing down physicians and for removing the personal element from doctor-patient care. Physicians do not want to be typists. A physician serving as a typist, or using point-and-click entry in the EHR, can be grossly inefficient. Physicians do not have the extra time to function as a data-entry clerk for the EHR. Rather, they prefer to spend quality time with their patients.

Medical Transcription Services, when integrated with EHRs, make EHRs much more efficient. Instead of typing their notes, physicians dictate using their preferred dictation method and the transcribed note is returned directly to the EHR within the contracted turnaround time (TAT). Transcribed reports are customized to the needs of the EHR and the physician, so they are personalized notes -- not cookie-cutter templates like many EHRs produce.

Transcription companies who employ discrete reportable transcription (DRT) can take the transcription-EHR relationship a step further by importing the transcribed information directly into specific fields or sections in the EHR. Gone are the days where transcribed reports become scanned attachments in the patient chart. Today, the transcribed information is incorporated directly into the medical record.

Medical transcription services make the use of EHRs more efficient, while preserving the personal element of doctor-patient interactions. In addition, transcription enables physicians to use EHRs and continue the workflow used today in their practice of medicine. Employing medical transcription services with EHRs benefits physicians and the patients they serve.

Is your EHR amplified with medical transcription?

This article was originally posted at http://ping.fm/1GMYM