Medical Transcription: The Future Perspective

Medical transcription industry brought great hopes and aspirations in the economic atmosphere of India during 1995-97. It can be described as India’s first step in outsourcing business. Even before BPO turned into a domestic name, medical transcription creates its impact on Indian minds. People were excited about the huge opportunity that suddenly stroke India.

The advent of the new millennium witnessed massive growth of BPO with its enormous opportunities and dollar dreams. As a result the medical transcription industry underwent a phase of dilemma. Just when a notion is developing that the medical transcription industry is down and out, it is staging its way back and is all set for an exponential growth in India. Cbay Systems, which is incorporated in early 1998 in U.S., has started acting upon its gigantic plans of expansion with about 95 per cent outsourcing from India.

Medical transcription is projected as the fastest growing segment among allied healthcare services. The demand for efficient medical transcriptionist is further instigated by the growing aging population and also by the HIPAA regulation, which declared mandatory to convert medical records into digital format. The Department of Labor in U.S., shows a growth of about 18 to 25 per cent of this business.

The voice recognition technology still can not read every human spoken word. Hence, the transcription can not be error free. It would take years to teach the software to get detailed and accurate transcription. Thus digital medical transcription becomes obvious. Outsourcing digital medical transcription further ensures that the work is done with equal accuracy and efficiency but in a cost-effective manner.

The good pay and relatively acceptable working hours have brought medical transcription outsourcing industry on the verge of a new beginning. As medical transcription requires only the voice recording, there is lesser chance for graveyard shift, which is most likely for the call centers. Unfazed by the global economic meltdown, medical transcription outsourcing industry in India is all ready for its growth.

V.Raman Kumar, the Chairman and founder of Cbay Systems declared that the company is looking forward for a phenomenal growth in the medical transcription outsourcing domain. The company is about to increase its strength from 700 in India to 5,000 and is looking for places, like Guntur for its operation. He also mentioned that the company has not lost any of its clients because of the economic turmoil.

The approximate strength of medical transcription industry in India is 18,000 and is expected to grow to 52,000 by 2010. U.S. contributes to about $ 25 billion in the medical transcription industry, of which $3 billion is outsourced. India’s share is only about $40 million of this total outsourced amount. Raman points out that U.S. is in dearth of medical transcriptionists. The situation is further complicated as the MTs expect double-digit rates. Hence outsourcing becomes inevitable and India expected to fill the void.

Medical Coding

Medical coding or Insurance Coding, as it is commonly referred to, is the process of assigning standardized codes to medical procedures and diagnosis so that it can ensure proper financial reimbursement for healthcare providers’ expenses. The entire concept of medical coding is to ensure timely reimbursement from the government and insurance agencies.

The physicians as well as the healthcare providers obviously want to be paid for their service and medical coding ensures this reimbursement. The reimbursement procedures primarily include descriptions of the services and the procedures that the physicians and the healthcare providers offer to their patients.

Why is medical coding important? Well before you bill, you should identify the medical services that you have availed. With different medications, procedures and specialties it is almost impossible for a patient or his family to identify the exact charge rates.

Even the healthcare providers and physicians are at times not sure about the charge codes, thus giving rise to demand for professional medical coders. Hence, to ask for these reimbursements the physicians as well as the providers need help of the medical coders, who can help them in billing their services and medications. This has given rise to government agencies, software companies and consulting firms that have experienced professionals for medical coding. Any discrepancies in billing for the services might result in denial of the claim.

Like every other industry, outsourcing is good news for the medical coding industry, as the same work can now be done in less cost with equal efficiency. Promantra is a forerunner in the industry of Medical Coding and Outsourcing. Today, Promantra is the proud possessor of a band of efficient medical coders that are serving overseas client efficiently for years. Our medical coders are all certified by AAPC (American Association of Professional Coders) and are skilled in providing high quality work within TAT provided by the client.

At Promantra, we strictly adhere to the regulations of ICD-9-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, AMA Guidelines from CPT-4 Code Manuals and CMS (HCFA) Guidelines [CCI (Correct Coding Initiatives)] and [LMRP (Local Medical Review Policies)]. We follow HIPAA regulation in order to protect the confidentiality of Patient Health Information (PHI). Our coders strictly adhere to standards of ethical Coding. All the employees at Promantra sign a Non-disclosure Agreement and HIPPAA.

At Promantra we maintain the confidentiality, availability and integrity of information through the adopted security standards of ISO 27001:2005 and we aim to exceed the expectations of our clients and add value to their business by constantly monitoring, analyzing and improving our delivery processes through the adopted standards of ISO 9001:2000.

Promantra turns the key of success in medical coding not only by delivering quality work but also delivering it on time. With a minimal number of denials, today Promantra can claim to be one of the forebears of medical coding.

Medical Billing

Medical Billing is a liaison between the insurance company and the healthcare service provider. It refers to the process of submission and following up of claims to an insurance company for the services rendered by a healthcare provider. Medical Billing has always been an integral part of medical insurance.

With time, Medical Billing has developed into an industry with an annual revenue of about $2 million. It is a full fledged industry that includes, billing professionals, software developers developing the software for Medical Billing, healthcare service providers and of course the insurance companies.

In the last few years, medical billing was processed through paper work. However, with the advent of the Medical Practice Management Software, otherwise known as Health Information System, has enabled to manage large amount of claims efficiently. Software companies are coming up to provide medical billing software as they find this market to be particularly lucrative.

Owing to the rapid change of the US health insurance, many new aspects of medical billing have been created. Some of these new additions require specialized training. Hence several schools and institutions are coming up with specialized training programs for trained professionals in medical billing.

In order to provide service efficiently and promptly, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) came into being. It describes certain rules and regulations that doctors, hospitals, healthcare providers and health plans must follow while rendering medical service. From 2005, it has urged to send claims through e-mails so that there is no difficulty in receiving payments.

The introduction of HIPAA has been a huge challenge not only for the healthcare service providers and medical billing companies, but also for the patients as they have got into more waivers and paperwork. A typical billing process starts only after the physician or his staff creates or updates a patient’s medical record.

A medical record contains demographic information about the patient and summary of the treatment. It contains information on the disease of the patient, diagnosis, medication and also the mode of treatment. Once the level of service is determined, it is immediately transformed to five digit procedure code. The verbal code is changed to numerical code. These two codes are the determining factors in medical billing.

At Promantra, we provide expertise service in getting reimbursement for your medical bills. We assure you impeccable services from Generation of Claims till the Payment. Our experienced staff is well-versed in Carrier Follow Up and can surely bring back that smile of relief. We have a band of trained professionals that hold years of experience in Medical Billing.

Data security and quality management are given topmost priority at Promantra. Our ISO 27001:2005 and ISO 9001:2000 bear testimony to it. As recognition of our service, NASCOMM has awarded us as one of the Top 100 IT Innovators. With an extensive knowledge and experience in providing end-to-end services for the healthcare BPO, we know the most effective way to get payments for your Medical Bills. So if you are worried about your Medical Bills- Promantra is the right place to approach.